Robert Schumann Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured Schumann that Robert could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. In 1840, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with Wieck, who opposed the marriage, Schumann married Wieck's daughter
Clara Ponty Clara Ponty Clara Ponty (born in Paris, France) is a French-American pianist, vocalist and pop and jazz composer. Ponty is the daughter of jazz violinist and composer Jean-Luc Ponty. Born in Paris but raised in Los Angeles since age four, she began studying violin and piano at the age of five. By the time she was eight, she had written her first piece. She participated in local competitions in Los Angeles and won her first award at age eleven. Clara Ponty continued her studies into her early teens when she was accepted into the prestigious music program at Interlochen Arts