The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Susan Pickett, a violinist, musicologist, and Whitman College Professor Emerita, will speak about Emilie and Marion Bauer, Walla Walla natives who had influential music careers in New York City at a Fort Walla Walla Museum After Hours Talk.

The presentation will take place in the museum's Grand Hall, 755 Myra Road, on Thursday, February 27 at 4 pm. It is free to attend.

The Bauer family had a prominent presence in Walla Walla. The eldest child, Emilie Frances, may have been the first Jewish child born here in 1865. Marion Eugenie, the seventh and last child of the Bauer family, was born here in 1882. Emilie Frances, who was initially a music critic for the Oregonian, moved to NYC around the turn of the century. She was the first American critic to whom Claude Debussy allowed an interview. Marion Eugenie soon joined her sister in NYC, studying music composition. During her lifetime, Marion composed over 160 works, including a symphonic poem that was performed by the New York Philharmonic in 1947.

 Like so many women who were recognized for their talents during their lifetimes, both sisters disappeared from the annals of music history until Susan Pickett's curiosity led her to rediscover the careers, writings, and music of these two remarkable women.