Cecelia Porter

Classical music critic and musicologist Dr. Cecelia Porter was recently awarded the Decoration of Merit in Gold of the Republic of Austria. As classical music critic for the Washington Post for twenty-two years, she has written articles for numerous music publications. Dr. Porter, who was also a Fulbright recipient in Vienna, has vast knowledge of Austrian history of music and the contemporary music scene and has contributed substantial information on music from Austria in the U.S. She is currently researching the Austrian composers, Maria Bach and Frida Kern for her book, Women, Music and Society.
Dr. Porter has a Ph.D. in music with honors from Harvard and Columbia universities and the University of Maryland, and has received postgraduate scholarships from the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, the Peabody Conservatory and Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood. She has served on the music faculties of George Washington University and the University of Maryland. Among numerous publications, she is also the author of The Rhine as Musical Metaphor: Cultural Identity in German Romantic Music.