Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay

Chamber music was hard to sell in 19th century Paris which was totally absorbed by opera, but a few composers took a stand and stood out. Two of them were women, Louise Farrenc, the first female professor at the Paris Conservatory, and Mélanie Bonis, who disguised her gender by using the first name of Mel on her publications to sound like a man. Mel’s story will break your heart, but her music will melt it, and this all-French program as…