Born: 2 July 1842, United States
Died: 18 July 1914
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Martha Maria Dana
The following is republished with permission from the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.
Martha Dana Shepard was a highly successful “music festival pianist.” As a young woman, Shepard lived in NH, where she frequently served as an accompanist at local events. A noteworthy performance was her appearance with conductor Carl Zerrahn in Keene, when she was a young mother. She took her baby and older daughter with her to the venue and left them at a local hotel while she performed. Zerrahn was not a fan of women musicians but was impressed with her talent. Shepard thereafter found constant work at festivals throughout New England and in New York and Canada. In her later years, she was a prominent member of a number of women’s clubs in the Boston area and was the organist and director of the chorus of the Dorchester Woman’s Club.