Ashford, Emma Louise, 1850-1930

Emma Louise Hindle was born Mar. 29, 1850, in Newark, Del., to a musical family of English ancestry. She was musically precocious and by the age of twelve was organist at an Episcopal church in Kewanee, Ill. Her family moved frequently. At one of their musical evenings in Connecticut, when she was seventeen, she met John Ashford, a young engineer and amateur singer from Bath, England. They married soon after and moved to Chicago, Ill., where she becamse the solo alto at St. John's Episcopal Church as well as a church organist and teacher of harmony. In 1884, the couple moved to Nashville, Tenn., where Mr. Ashford became the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at Vanderbilt University. Ms. Ashford began to compose and to immerse herself in the musical life of the university and the community. She soon became famous on campus for her compositions about Vanderbilt. Ms. Ashford was a prolific composer and frequently conducted her own work. She composed over 600 pieces of music, including organ voluntaries, sacred cantatas, hymns, song cycles, anthems, and graded works for piano and organ instruction. She traveled throughout the country and abroad, performing and conducting her work. She won numerous prizes in international song and anthem contests. Among her works written for Vanderbilt, the most acclaimed was "Vanderbilt Ode," written in 1901 for the University's twenth-fifth birthday celebration. A memorable performance of this work was presented in 1926 at the War Memorial Auditorium by the Nashville Symphony and a large chorus. The evening concluded with Chancellor Kirkland complimenting Ms. Ashford publicly with the following remarks: "As long as men love the beautiful in music, so long will your name live and be cherished by Vanderbilt men and women." Ms. Ashford died Sept. 22, 1930, at her home in Nashville.