Isidora Zegers

Biography

Isidora Zegers, a native of Madrid, Spain, studied voice, harp, piano, and composition in Paris. In 1822 she moved to Chile where she stayed for the rest of her life. In 1826 she married Colonel William Vic Tupper, a soldier who would die four years later in the Battle of Lircay, the final battle of the Chilean Civil War. In 1827 Zegers helped establish the Santiago Philharmonic Society. Eight years later she re-married and changed her name to Isidora Zegers de Huneeus. In 1850 she helped found the National Conservatory, and in the following year she was made its honorary director. In 1852, with José Zapiola, she founded a weekly publication, Seminario Musica, to which she was thereafter a regular contributor writing (and translating) a variety of articles on musical matters.