Eva Rieger

Eva Rieger (born November 21, 1940, Isle of Man) is a German musicologist. Rieger specialized in the social and cultural history of women in music. Together with the German-Swiss patron Mariann Steegmann, Rieger founded the Mariann-Steegmann-Foundation, which is dedicated to the advancement of women in music and the arts. In 2012, she was appointed Honorary Senator of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.
Early years and education
Eva Rieger was born to German parents - pastor Julius Rieger and librarian Johanna Rieger (née Krüger). They moved to Berlin in 1953. Eva studied music education, musicology, and English at the Technical University of Berlin, and earned her doctorate in 1976 with a thesis on music education in East Germany.
Career
From 1978 to 1991, Rieger was an Academic Councilor at the University of Göttingen and the University of Hildesheim. From 1991 onwards, she was a Professor of Historical Musicology at the University of Bremen, with a focus on the social history of music. Rieger also was a member of the Advisory Board for the journal Feminist Studies (German: Feministische Studien) from 1988 to 1992.
Rieger has given lectures in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe. In 1996, she co-founded the "Women and Gender Research" department at the German Society for Music Research. Rieger was an active participant and jury member at the "Feminist Theory and Music" conference in the United States on several occasions. In 2000, Rieger co-founded the Mariann Steegmann Foundation with Mariann Steegmann herself. This foundation operates the "Mariann Steegmann Art & Gender Institute" at the University of Bremen as well as the "Research Center for Music and Gender" at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. In 2009 Rieger was Corresponding Member of the American Musicological Society.
Research
Rieger's research focuses on gender issues in musical culture. She wrote a musicological study on the discrimination of women in German musical culture and used her work to advocate for the equality of women at all levels of musical culture. She has also written on film music, music education, and the life and works of Richard Wagner. Rieger has published several books in Great Britain, Sweden, Japan, and South Korea. Her articles have been published in journals such as Die Musikforschung, Archiv für Musikwissenschaft, Feministische Studien, and others.
Personal life
Rieger struggled with her sexuality until she had her first relationship with a woman at the age of thirty. She became affiliated with the Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW, Gay Action West Berlin) group, which she described as her "salvation."
Selected works
School Music Education in the GDR. (1977). (Doctoral Dissertation at the Technical University of Berlin; published in German as Schulmusikerziehung in der DDR by Diesterweg.) .
(as editor:) Woman and Music. (1980). (Published in German as Frau und Musik by Fischer-Taschenbücher; 2nd edition published in 1990 by Furore-Verlag.) .
Woman, Music and Men's Domination: On the Exclusion of Women from German Music Pedagogy, Musicology and Music Practice. (1981). (Published in German as Frau, Musik und Männerherrschaft. Zum Ausschluß der Frau aus der deutschen Musikpädagogik, Musikwissenschaft und Musikausübung by Ullstein Verlag; 2nd edition published in 1988 by Furore-Verlag; Japanese translation published in 1985; Korean translation published in 1988.) .
Peace Education in Music Lessons. (1987). (Published in German as Friedenserziehung im Musikunterricht by Gustav Bosse Verlag.) .
(as editor:) A Stormy Winter: Memories of a Pugnacious English Composer. (Autobiography of Ethel Smyth) (1988). (Published in German as Ein stürmischer Winter. Erinnerungen einer streitbaren englischen Komponistin by Bärenreiter-Verlag.) .
Nannerl Mozart: The Life of an Artist in the 18th Century. (1991). (Published in German as Nannerl Mozart. Leben einer Künstlerin im 18. Jahrhundert by Insel Verlag; revised edition published in 2005 by Insel Verlag; Swedish translation published in 1992.) .
Alfred Hitchcock and the Music: An Investigation into the Relationship between Film, Music and Gender. (1996). (Published in German as Alfred Hitchcock und die Musik. Eine Untersuchung zum Verhältnis von Film, Musik und Geschlecht by Kleine Verlag.) .
(as editor:) Women with Wings: Life Stories of Famous Pianists, from Clara Schumann to Clara Haskil. (1996). (Co-written by Monica Steegmann; published in German as Frauen mit Flügel: Lebensberichte berühmter Pianistinnen; von Clara Schumann bis Clara Haskill by Insel Verlag.) .
(as editor:) Women's Voices, Women's Roles in Opera and Women's Self-Testimonies. (2000). (Co-written by Gabriele Busch-Salmen; published in German as Frauenstimmen, Frauenrollen in der Oper und Frauen-Selbstzeugnisse by Centaurus Verlag.) .
(as editor:) With a Thousand Kisses, Your "Fillu": Letters of the Singer Marie Fillunger to Eugenie Schumann, 1875-93. (2002). (Published in German as „Mit tausend Küssen Deine Fillu“. Briefe der Sängerin Marie Fillunger an Eugenie Schumann 1875–93. by Dittrich Verlag.) .
(as editor:) Divine Voices: Life Stories of Famous Singers from Elisabeth Mara to Maria Callas. (2002). (Co-written by Monica Steegmann; published in German as Göttliche Stimmen. Lebensberichte berühmter Sängerinnen von Elisabeth Mara bis Maria Callas by Insel Verlag.) .
Minna and Richard Wagner: Stations of a Love. (2003). (Published in German as Minna und Richard Wagner. Stationen einer Liebe by Artemis & Winkler Verlag.) .
Shining Love, Laughing Death: Richard Wagner's Image of the Woman in the Mirror of his Music. (2009). (Published in German as Leuchtende Liebe, lachender Tod. Richard Wagners Bild der Frau im Spiegel seiner Musik by Artemis & Winkler Verlag.) .
A Place for Gods: Richard Wagner's Hikes in Switzerland. (2009). (Co-written by Hiltrud Schroeder; published in German as Ein Platz für Götter. Richard Wagners Wanderungen in der Schweiz by Böhlau Verlag.) .
Friedelind Wagner: The Rebellious Granddaughter of Richard Wagner. (2012). (Published as in German as Friedelind Wagner. Die rebellische Enkelin Richard Wagners by Piper Verlag.) .
Frida Leider: Singer in the Twilight of Her Time. (2016). (Co-written by Peter Sommeregger; foreword by Stephan Mösch; published in German as Frida Leider - Sängerin im Zwiespalt ihrer Zeit by Georg Olms Verlag.) .
References
Bibliography
Freia Hoffmann, Jane Bowers, and Ruth Heckmann, eds. (2000). Pictures of Women and Men in Music: Festschrift for Eva Rieger on her 60th Birthday. (Published in German as Frauen- und Männerbilder in der Musik. Festschrift für Eva Rieger zum 60. Geburtstag by BIS-Verlag.) .
Annette Kreutziger-Herr, Susanne Rode-Breymann, Nina Noeske, Melanie Unseld, Eva Rieger, and the Research Center for Music and Gender. (2010). Gender Studies in Musicology--Quo vadis? : Festschrift for Eva Rieger on her 70th Birthday. (Music and Gender Yearbook, Vol. 3) (Published in German as Gender Studies in der Musikwissenschaft. Quo vadis? Festschrift für Eva Rieger--Jahrbuch Musik und Gender, Bd. 3 by Georg Olms Verlag.) .
External links
Eva Rieger (official website) (in German)
Mariann Steegmann Foundation (in German)
1940 births
20th-century Manx people
Living people
German musicologists
German women musicologists
Lesbian academics
German lesbian writers
Technical University of Berlin alumni
Academic staff of the University of Göttingen
Academic staff of the University of Bremen
20th-century German women writers
21st-century German women writers
British emigrants to Germany
20th-century German LGBT people
21st-century German LGBT people