Amy Marcy Cheney was born in New Hampshire into a well-known New England family. She showed great talent from a young age, composing simple waltzes by the time she was four. She started learning piano from her mother at age six and gave her first public performances a year later, playing music by Handel, Beethoven, Chopin, and some pieces she wrote herself. In 1875, her family moved to Boston, where she studied with top pianists. Amy made her Boston debut in 1883 and performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra two years later, playing Chopin's Concerto in F Minor. In 1885, Amy married Henry Harris Aubrey Beach and concentrated on composing music. Her first major success came when the Boston Handel and Haydn Society performed her Mass in E-flat. She became the first American woman to gain wide recognition for composing large works with an orchestra. Her reputation grew nationally through performances of her Symphony Opus 32, Violin Sonata Opus 34, and Piano Concerto Opus 45, all receiving positive attention. After her husband passed away in 1910, Amy traveled to Europe to build her career as both a performer and composer. She earned good reviews for concerts in Germany and for performances of her symphony and concerto in Leipzig and Berlin. She returned to the United States in 1914 and soon became a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. There, she composed many of her later works, continuing her creative output.