Back in the 18th century, Frederick the Great of Prussia was a prolific composer of sonatas, concertos, and even a few symphonies. In the 19th century, Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, composed songs and choral pieces. There have been other composers who were members of the European nobility, but more often they crop up as patrons of music rather than creators of it.

But in our time, a Belgian composer named Jacqueline Fontyn, who was born in Antwerp on today’s date in 1930, was made an honorary baroness by the King of Belgium in 1993 in recognition of her contributions to music in her native country and around the world.

Now, Baroness Fontyn is probably a composer you never heard of until today, but she has a sizeable body of orchestral and chamber works and enjoyed an international career as a composition teacher, holding positions at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, as well as in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Seoul, and her native Belgium.

Her music might be described as “European modern.” Today, you can find all the manuscript scores of Jacqueline, Baroness Fontyn have been kept in the Library of Congress.