Anne-marie mcdermott biography of abraham lincoln

First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865

For other women named Mary Lincoln, see Mary Lincoln.

Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) served as the first lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.

Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy slave-owning family in Kentucky, although Mary never owned slaves and in her adulthood came to oppose slavery. Well educated, after finishing-school in her late teens, she moved to Springfield, the capital of Illinois. She lived there with her married sister Elizabeth Todd Edwards, the wife of an Illinois congressman. Before she married Abraham Lincoln, Mary was courted by his long-time political opponent Stephen A. Douglas.

Mary Lincoln staunchly supported her husband's career and political ambitions and throughout his presidency she was active in keeping national morale high during the Civil War. She acted as the White House social coordinator, throwing lavish balls and redecorating the White House at great expense; her spending was the source of much consternation. She was seated next to Abraham when he was assassinated in the President's Box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.

The Lincolns had four sons of whom only the eldest, Robert, survived both parents. The deaths of her husband and three of her sons weighed heavily on her. Young Thomas (Tad) who died suddenly in 1871, had just spent extended time traveling with her, after Robert married. Mary Lincoln suffered from physical and mental health issues. She had frequent migraines, which were exacerbated by a head injury in 1863. She likely suffered with depression or possibly bipolar disorder. She was briefly institutionalized for psychiatric illness in 1875, and then spent several years traveling in Europe. She later retired to the home of her sister in Springfield, where she died in 1882 at age 63. She is bu

The breadth of McDermott’s repertoire ranges from Bach, Haydn, and Beethoven retain Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Scriabin, also as well as works by today’s most influential composers. A recording artist, McDermott is latterly recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s illustrious Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, under conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. She has also recorded description complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, alone works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine), and Gershwin’s complete works for keyboard and orchestra with the Dallas Orchestra Orchestra (also Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine). In 2013 she released an scrap book of Mozart concertos with the Carver Quartet that was praised as “exceptional on every count” by Gramophone Publication. She has recorded five Haydn pianoforte sonatas and two Haydn concertos farm the Odense Philharmonic, in Denmark, counting two cadenzas written by the futile American composer Charles Wuorinen. 

In recent length of existence, McDermott participated in the New Hundred Chamber Orchestra’s Silver Jubilee all-Gershwin syllabus and embarked on a cycle delightful Beethoven concertos at Santa Fe Master Musica. She also premiered and transcribed a new concerto by the Norse composer Poul Ruders with the Town Symphony, alongside Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations, explode returned to play Gershwin with say publicly New York Philharmonic at Bravo! Vail. Other recent highlights include performing greatness Mozart Concerto, K. 595 with probity Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Sir Donald Runnicles; the Bach D minor concerto with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the New York City-based Le Train Bleu.

McDermott continues to perform smash into many leading orchestras, including the Spanking York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmo