This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Frances Clarke. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: 1 September 1845, United Kingdom
Died: 22 April 1932
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Annie Jessie Gregg
Curwen, Annie Jessie (1845–1932), music educationist, was born 1 September 1845 in Dublin; her name at birth was Gregg . Educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, she taught piano in the city, before moving to Scotland, where she met her future husband, the musician and publisher John Spencer Curwen (1847–1916). They married in 1877 and had one son and two daughters. It was most probably through the Curwen family that she first encountered the tonic sol-fa system. She applied its principles to the teaching of piano, and in 1886 published The child pianist, which later became known as Mrs Curwen’s pianoforte method. This was followed by Psychology applied to music teaching (1920), which reflects her interest in Herbartian psychology, and by various magazine articles. Her ideas became, over a period of time, central to the accepted method of teaching the piano. She settled in Matlock, Derbyshire, where she died 22 April 1932.