Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SPRING 2016 • PAN PIPES 15 POETRY IN SONG Schirmer, Wa-Wan Press, Oliver Ditson and Company, and Boosey-Hawkes. At age 26, Miss Branscombe resigned her position in Chicago and, all alone, moved across the country to become head of the piano department at Whitman Conservatory in Walla Walla, Washington. is new job fulfilled her desire to advance her professional career, challenged her musical growth, and gave her the ability to earn higher wages. ere she met her future husband, John Ferguson Tenney. Aer teaching two years at Whitman Conservatory, Gena resigned her academic position and le the United States for one year of intensive piano and composition lessons in Berlin, Germany. Miss Branscombe began a journey that was expected of American musicians: to study music abroad and immerse oneself in the grand tradition of classical music. While in Berlin she studied piano with Rudolf Ganz, her piano teacher in Chicago. e great composer Englebert Humperdinck was her composition teacher. Yes, the real Englebert Humperdinck, composer of the opera Hansel und Gretel, and not the popular singer who stole her beloved teacher's name! Days before returning home, she was the guest of honor at a party given at the Humperdinck home. is party indicates the esteem Humperdinck held for her. In the late summer of 1910, Gena began preparations for her marriage to John Ferguson Tenney, which took place on October 5 th in Picton. Her own song, "How Do I Love ee?" was sung at the ceremony. e couple moved to New York City, where they resided until their respective deaths. Miss Branscombe maintained the use of her maiden name professionally. Shortly aer her marriage, Gena became an American citizen yet remained loyal to her country of birth, Canada. She returned home frequently, performed concerts of her music, and composed the songs, "Dear Lad o'Mine" for the Canadian Red Cross World War I effort and "Blow Soly Maple Leaves" for her country's World War II involvement. John Tenney was a man ahead of his time. He was a graduate of Harvard Law School and practiced law in Seattle. He understood his future wife's career goals when they became engaged and waited for her return from Germany. Taking advice from a Seattle friend, he chose to give up his law career and moved to New York City to work in his cousin's hat business. New York City would offer his wife opportunities that would not be readily available elsewhere in the country. roughout her life, Gena Branscombe gave credit to her husband for his support and his constant help at home with their four daughters: Gena (1911-2007), Vivian (1913-1990), Betty (1916-1919), and Beatrice (1919-1954). eirs was a marriage of equality, with John cooking dinner, baby sitting, changing diapers, and supporting her musical endeavors by assisting in research and proofreading her librettos. With his help, Gena combined the busy life of a wife and mother with her music career. Multi-tasking came naturally to her. Whimsical titles such as "A Woodsey Nymph Came Dancing," "A Butterfly Dance," and "When Joan of Arc was a Little Girl," were piano works composed for her daughters. With Gena acting as poet and composer, children's songs were written, published with pictures of the girls on the covers and dedicated to them. Plays with songs and music were performed in the nursery, with herself and her daughters as willing participants. Daughter Gena studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in London and later was music department chair at Barnard College in New York City. She married Phillip Phenix and they had two sons, Roger Branscombe Phenix and Morgan Scott Phenix. Second daughter Vivian was one of the first women to graduate from Cornell Medical School and practiced medicine in New York City. Beatrice worked as a magazine editor and in social services. Daughter Betty died at age three during the influenza epidemic of 1919, husband John Tenney died in 1949, and daughter Beatrice passed away in 1954. rough her losses, Miss Branscombe carried on with her work - composing and traveling to promote and perform our nation's music. At left, John Tenney. Above, Gena and daughter, Gena. BRANSCOMBE continued on page 16

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