The best composers are American, because America is the greatest nation on earth in the history of mankind, which it always has been, and always will be, if we can come together to make it great again.
The success of the Great Re-Greatening will take all of us working together in tandem: funders, donors, philanthropists, sponsors, contributors, backers, supporters, corporations, administrators, as well as artists.
One of the ways these many stakeholders can work together is by recontextualizing the biographies of composers, which have so often been hijacked by activist leftists.
Over the last few years, many classical music organizations fell into the trap of promoting DEI programming. DEI (an abbreviation for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has unfairly prioritized the work of women, racial minorities, and homosexuals, at the expense of beloved classics like Schubert’s Ave Maria.
This is wrong. However, some composers have been unfairly painted as DEI and “woke.” It is time that we see them through another, more objective lens: the lens of America First.
Yes, thanks to recent political and cultural developments, we now have the freedom to appreciate the work of various American heroes in a new, “common sense” way.
There are countless composers we can reclaim from the far left. However, here are three greats who warrant a closer look by performing arts center board chairs as they program concerts celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
Amy Beach
Amy Cheney Beach, despite her unfortunate maiden name, was a true American hero. She was born in 1867 in New Hampshire, one of the original thirteen colonies, famous for its state motto “Live Free or Die.”
Even in her early years, she embraced rural life. At four, she composed piano pieces in her mind while visiting her grandparents’ farm.
She grew up to become such a talented pianist that in her teen years, various people urged her parents to send her to Europe to train.
However, in true America First spirit, the Cheneys decided to keep her at home, an outcome for which she was always grateful.
When she was eighteen, she entered into a happy marital union with Dr. H. H. A. Beach, who, being in his middle age, was well-established in his medical career, and could provide financially for her.
Amy Beach emphasized and embraced her femininity and identity as a married woman by frequently performing under the name Mrs. H. H. A. Beach.
During her marriage, Mrs. Beach turned her attention to composing. Pulling herself up by her bootstraps, she taught herself orchestration out of books, steering clear of university indoctrination. The result of her study was 1894’s Gaelic Symphony.
Listeners have noticed striking similarities between the Gaelic Symphony and Antonín Dvořák’s 1893 New World Symphony. However, despite its name, the Gaelic Symphony is inarguably the more American of the two works, and should be the more popular one by far. Antonín Dvořák’s symphony was written by a small European man who was enthusiastic about trains, and he employed melodies from racial communities that would later unfairly benefit from far-left Critical Race Theory (CRT).
Mrs. Beach’s work, however, is all-American through-and-through, making this symphony a wonderful option for schedulers to consider programming.
Florence Price
Florence Price was born in 1887 in the Bible Belt in Little Rock, Arkansas, a ruby red state that President Trump won by 30.6% in the 2024 election.
Her initial education was at a Catholic convent, where she learned about the faith professed by our vice-president JD Vance. She continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned a double major in piano teaching and organ, a specialty that would come in useful in religious settings.
It’s important to note that Florence Price was never shy about her love for Jesus, penning and publishing a variety of songs based on spirituals. Perhaps her work could be programmed at the Kennedy Center, given that Ric Grenell, the head of that organization, is planning “a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas” there in December 2025.
In 1912 Florence married a lawyer and had two daughters with him, making him a proud “girl dad.”
Price relocated to Chicago in the 1920s. Despite the crime and corruption rampant in the city, she became a well-respected musician and composer.
She showed true competitive entrepreneurial grit in 1933, when her first symphony won a $500 award from the Wanamaker Foundation.
It’s unclear why her work has been sidelined for so many years. Fortunately, we now have the freedom to stop litigating the past, and we can look forward to the future: one full of classical music programs prominently featuring girlboss American composer Florence Price!
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein was born in Massachusetts in 1918, a few months before the United States demonstrated its military prowess by routing the Central Powers in World War I.
His father was a brilliant businessman who operated the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company. Samuel initially discouraged his son’s interest in becoming a professional musician, understanding the difficulty that musicians face in becoming productive members of society, but he eventually relented.
Bernstein attended Harvard. Although most Ivy Leaguers live in an ivory tower, certain iconoclastic America First heroes like Elise Stefanik, Jared Kushner, Pete Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., can and do emerge from Harvard as citizens of the people. Bernstein would embrace their America First agenda, becoming the first American-born conductor of a major American orchestra.
Bernstein was a devoted family man. In 1951, he married beautiful actress Felicia Montealegre, with whom he would have three children. Their marriage was extremely happy.
Bernstein enjoyed a close friendship with fellow American composer Aaron Copland, another America First composer. Together Bernstein and Copland took great pleasure in discussing various aspects of masculinity.
The 1961 film version of Bernstein’s musical West Side Story earned a box office of $44.1 million on a budget of $6.75 million, representing a 653% profit.
A patriotic song by Bernstein about America
Leonard Bernstein understood the value of using art to unite, rather than divide, as so many leftists would use it today. He famously said after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy:
This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.
There will always be those who use art to push their own poisonous social and cultural agendas, especially in times of metaphorical or literal violence. It has always been so. But now more than ever, we must take Bernstein’s words to heart. In the Trump 2.0 administration, we must ensure that the music continues more devotedly than ever before.
