Ilse Fromm-Michaels (1888–1986) was born in Hamburg. She began taking piano lessons at an early age and discovered her passion for composing. At the age of 13, she was accepted as a junior student at the Berlin University of the Arts. Three years later, she transferred to the Stern Conservatory to study piano with James Kwast and also studied composition briefly with Hans Pfitzner. She then enjoyed success as a pianist throughout Germany, performing under conductors such as Otto Klemperer, Carl Schuricht, and Arthur Nikisch, and giving recitals featuring works by contemporary composers such as Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. She was friends with Erwin Schulhoff, whose “Two Piano Pieces” op. 4 she premiered in 1913. It is unknown whether Ilse Fromm-Michaels also included her own works in her programs. In 1915, she married the music-loving Jewish judge Walter Michaels.

The composer's path to developing her own style in free tonality was interrupted in 1933 when her husband was forced into retirement. “And then came the worst: the Hitler era, when I was forbidden to give concerts or perform because of my marriage.” (Ilse Fromm-Michaels 1973)

In the 1930s, she also composed works for orchestra that reflect her retreat into “inner emigration.” Her husband died in 1946. Ilse Fromm-Michaels fell silent as a composer.

Pianist Babette Dorn has studied Ilse Fromm-Michaels extensively and will perform a selection of her piano works. With Bettina Brand, she talks about the composer.