March 11 1781

Anthony Philip Heinrich Born

Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781 - 1861) was the First "Full-time" American composer, and the most prominent  before the American Civil War. He did not start composing until he was 36, after losing his business fortune in the napoleonic wars. For most of his career he was known as "Father Heinrich", an emeritus figure of America's small classical music community. He chaired the founding meeting of the New York Philharmonic Society in 1842.