CARMENA, Maria Isabel Prota

María Isabel Prota Carmena was a Spanish composer, pianist, and writer, born in Madrid. She received her earliest instruction in singing, piano, and music theory from her mother and later studied at the Madrid Conservatory, where her subjects included counterpoint, fugue, instrumentation, and organ.
Prota Carmena composed predominantly sacred music. Her output exceeded one hundred works and included masses, motets, psalm settings, offertories, litanies, Stabat Mater settings, and other vocal and choral compositions. She also wrote piano and instrumental music, including Andante with Variations, several nocturnes, a scherzo for piano four hands, and a fantasy for organ and piano. In 1882, she won first prize in a competition in Salamanca for an orchestral setting of verses by Saint Teresa of Ávila. Her Misa a grande orquesta received a medal for special merit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.