George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) was born in Lowell, MA, where his earliest musical training was with his brother. He dropped out of high school in 1871to pursue music (to his parents’ dismay), and was admitted to the New England Conservatory (NEC) in 1872, where he studied organ, piano, and music theory. He taught for a year in Michigan, then—like many young Americans—went to Germany in 1877 to study. He returned to Boston in 1880 and became an organist, teacher, conductor, and composer. In 1897 he was appointed Director of the NEC, a position he held for over thirty years. A highly influential teacher, Chadwick was considered ‘the dean of American composers,” and wrote in almost all musical genres, including operas, symphonies, tone poems, incidental music, chamber works, songs, and anthems. He was a member of a group of six composers who created the first important collection of American concert music.