Frances Conover Fitch

Frances Conover Fitch is fortunate to have been teaching and performing on the harpsichord for the last fifty years. She has taught keyboard students at all levels and ages, including kindergartners who are beginning piano to Master of Music candidates preparing for their final harpsichord recitals.

She was a member of the faculty of the Longy School of Music for nearly three decades, and served as Chair of its Early Music department. In 2006, Longy awarded her the George Seaman Award for Excellence in the Art of Teaching. Ms. Fitch is on the faculty The New England Conservatory, where she originally received her Master of Music degree before beginning post-graduate studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. In 2012-13, she was Guest Professor at Ferris University in Yokohama, Japan. She is co-author of the figured bass workbook, Running the Numbers. Ms. Fitch maintains a private studio in the Boston area, and is Minister of Music at St. John’s Church in Beverly Farms, MA.

As a performer, Ms. Fitch has toured extensively in North America and Europe performing with many prominent early music ensembles. She helped found the groundbreaking ensemble for 17th-century music, Concerto Castello, and has been described as a “delightfully inventive and compelling” continuo player. Ms. Fitch has participated in major music festivals, including Tanglewood, Aix-en-Provence, Pepsico Summerfare, Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Festival de Musica Antigua in Mexico.

Ms. Fitch has made more than a dozen recordings, including a double CD of music by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre.. Her playing has been noted for its “precision and delicacy of wit.”