Sophie Drinker (1888–1967)

Sophie Drinker, née Hutchinson, was born in Haverford, Philadelphia, to a wealthy family. Her parents were Sydney Pemberton Hutchinson and his wife Amy Lewis. The Hutchinson family had a high social status, and dated their origins in the USA back to the 17th century. Sophie enjoyed a privileged childhood with nannies and servants, and attended St. Timothy’s School, an exclusive private school in Maryland. She developed an interest in music at an early age and took piano lessons. In 1906, she was accepted to Bryn Mawr College, but decided against attending.

In 1911, she married Henry Sandwith Drinker, a lawyer and musicologist, with whom she had five children and lived in Merion, Pennsylvania. Henry Drinker spent all his spare time playing music, and devoted himself to translating vocal works by great German composers into English.

The whole family sat down together regularly to sing and often attended concerts, operas, and music festivals.

Sophie noticed that there was very little quality music for female choirs, and few women composers. This prompted her to conduct extensive research about women and their place in music history. The result was the book Music and Women: The Story of Women in Their Relation to Music, published in 1948. It is considered of great importance for music research, especially in the field of gender studies in music. It helped bring the lack of equality for women in the music field into public consciousness.

Sophie also published four other books, including Brahms and His Women’s Choruses (1952), and articles such as "What Price Women’s Chorus?" for the journal Music in 1954.

The Sophie Drinker Institute, a free research institute specializing in women’s musicological and gender studies, was founded in Bremen, Germany in 2002.