It is an honor to have been chosen to be one of four presenters at the first "CCM Speaks."  The College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati has invited alumni to give presentations about a “pivotal project or moment in your career that challenged you to think outside the box, take action, and do something new.”   On Friday, April  19th at 7 PM in the Cohen Family Studio Theater at the Conservatory, I will present “Gena Branscombe:  A  Woman Composer Lost – Now Found.”   Below is the hyperlink to the event. https://www.alumni.uc ..read more

The Gena Branscombe Project is proud to announce that  applications for its 2024 scholarships  are now open! Go to our website: www.thegenabranscombeproject.com   #BringingBackBranscombe www.kathleenshimeta.com ..read more

  Thank you to the Boston Landmarks Orchestra for creating and making available this video about Gena Branscombe!  Click on the hyperlink below.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59uVv5awSQA With Miss Branscombe's close ties to Boston, I hope that some day the orchestra will program her "Pilgrims of Destiny."   #BringingBackBranscombe www.kathleenshimeta.com ..read more

  On Monday, February 12th, the Colleges of the Fenway Orchestra rehearsed Gena Branscombe’s 1914 piece, “Festival Prelude/Festival March.”    What made this rehearsal special?  It is the first rehearsal and soon to be first performance of the original orchestration of this piece in over 100 years.  And, to add more to this explanation, the original orchestral work is in Miss Branscombe’s manuscript at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.  From scanned photos of the manuscript, the piece was transcribed into Finale, note by note by note, for the ..read more

 The Gena Branscombe Project and #BringingBackBranscombe congratulate our Board member, Regan Russell, and her husband, Howdy, on the birth of their beautiful daughter, Charlotte Kay Russell.  Born on January 15, 2024, this bundle of joy weighed 7 lbs, 14 ounces.   Welcome to the world Miss Charlotte and we know you will be a big supporter and fan of Gena Branscombe's music.   #BringingBackBranscombe www.kathleenshimeta.com ..read more

  This month’s Journal of the IAWM,  International Alliance of Women in Music, featured an article about The Gena Branscombe Project’s 2023 scholarship winners.  Congratulations to Brittney Benton, Hannah Nacheman and Roslinde Rivera.  Keep watching for announcements of the 2024 Gena Branscombe Project scholarships! #BringingBackBranscombe www.kathleenshimeta.com ..read more

  Chrystmasse seasons filled with joy, sadness, melancholy, sentimental remembrances, thankfulness for gifts received, gatherings of friends and family are what nearly every person experiences during their lifetime of Holie-dayes.  For Gena Branscombe there were many of those same experiences.  In her December 14, 1917 letter to her publisher Mr. Schmidt she wrote, “There is a foretaste of what the years will bring – this Christmas – a poignancy that has never existed before.  And just now we are waiting for later news of my cousin Gerald – who was severely wounded and ga ..read more

  In 1911 instrumentalists from the New  York Philharmonic, singers from the Metropolitan Opera, composers and church musicians organized and formed The Musicians’ Club of New York.  It is one of the oldest such clubs in the United States.  "The organization was formed to establish a higher standard of ethics in the various branches of the music profession and to bring a better understanding and closer fellowship among musicians." Two of the club’s presidents were Walter Damrosch, one of Gena Branscombe’s conducting teachers, and Olga Koussevitzky, wife of conducto ..read more

Today the website, Storied Stuff, published an article I wrote about Gena Branscombe's baton and her autographed music which were gifted to me.  Enjoy reading the article.   https://www.storied-stuff.com/stories/kathleen-shimeta    #BringingBackBranscombe www.kathleenshimeta.com ..read more

  Back in 2005 I received an e-mail from Elsa Jean Davidson informing me she had in her possession the two Branscombe Choral scrapbooks that dated from 1934-1954.  Her grandmother and mother had been members of the Choral and were  keepers of the scrapbooks.  The scrapbooks were handed down to Elsa Jean to preserve.   The Branscombe Choral scrapbooks reside with Gena Branscombe’s collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.  Scrapbooks – books that hold mementos, pictures, documents, dried leaves or flowers, postcards, lett ..read more