Oppens, Ursula (1944–)

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Oppens, Ursula (1944–)

American pianist. Born 1944 in New York, NY; dau. of Kurt Oppens (writer) and Edith Oppens (classical pianist); received undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College and graduate degree from Juilliard School of Music; studied under Rosina Lhévinne, Leonard Shure and Guido Agosti; lived with Julius Hemphill (jazz musician and composer, died 1995).

Champion of modern composers and accomplished classical pianist, won Busoni International Piano Competition (1969), launching professional career; was a founder, with cellist Fred Sherry and percussionist Richard Fitz, of Speculum Musicae (early 1970s); premiered or commissioned works by Elliott Carter (joint commission for Night Fantasies), Tobias Picker (Old and Lost Rivers), Frederic Rzewski (premiere of The People United Will Never Be Defeated, which she also recorded), Joan Tower, Julius Hemphill, Wuorinen (The Blue Bamboula), Anthony Davis (Middle Passage), Conlon Nancarrow (Two Canons for Ursula), Lois Vierk, and John Harbison (Piano Sonata No. 1); with Arditti String Quartet, premiered Elliott Carter's Piano Quintet (1998–99).

See also Women in World History.