María Rodrigo Bellido

María Rodrigo (20 March 1888 – 8 December 1967) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was the daughter of Pantaléon Rodrigo, and studied music at the Madrid Conservatorium under José Tragó for piano, Valentín Arín for harmony and Emilio Serrano for composition. Maria was the first woman to have her opera performed in Spain. Her sister Mercedes Rodrigo was equally intelligent, being the first woman from Spain to obtain a degree in psychology from the Rousseau Institute in Geneva. The two left Spain for Switzerland during the Spanish Civil War, moved in 1939 to Bogotá, Colombia, at the invitation of rector Agustín Nieto Caballero, and in 1950 to Puerto Rico at the invitation of José María García Madrid. With Pablo Casals, Rodrigo founded the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. She died in Puerto Rico in 1967. Maria was one of the few composers that addressed the composition of zarzuelas, a genre of Spanish music. Early life Background and early life The environment that Maria Rodrigo had growing up was very cultured, and her childhood consisted of being surrounded by high intellects. She acquired her first musical abilities from her father and then piano with Jose Trago and composition with Emilio Serrano. As a child prodigy, at the age of 14 she had already received scholarships to further her studies in France, Germany and Belgium. She ended up going to the city of Munich with the scholarship granted by the Board of Extension of Studies. Maria later served occasionally as a professor at the Royal Conservatory, until 1936, when the Spanish Civil War began. In 1933 she was appointed to the chair of vocal and instrumental ensembles at the Madrid Conservatory. Career and later life Unable to accept Francoist Spain, Maria and her sister fled the country in the spring of 1939 before the fall of Madrid, taking her scores with her in a trunk. Unfortunately, the trunk containing all her music was lost en route to Geneva.