Edward MacDowell

Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites Woodland Sketches, Sea Pieces and New England Idylls. Woodland Sketches includes his most popular short piece, To a Wild Rose. In 1904 he was one of the first seven Americans honored by membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Edward MacDowell was born in New York City to Thomas MacDowell, a Manhattan milk dealer, and Frances Mary Knapp. He received his first piano lessons from Juan Buitrago, a Colombian violinist who was living with the MacDowell family at the time. He also received music lessons from friends of Buitrago, including the Cuban pianist Pablo Desverine and Venezuelan pianist and composer Teresa Carreo. MacDowells mother decided to take her son to Paris, France, where in 1877 he was admitted to the Paris conservatory after receiving a competitive scholarship for international students.

Source: Wikipedia