Maria Blom

Maria Blom was a twentieth-century Dutch carillonneur and the first woman to work as a professional carillonneur in the Netherlands.

Life and career

Blom served as the carillonneur of the Sint Janskerk in Gouda from 1943-1985, and also played in IJsselstein and Kamerik. In a 1960 interview for a women’s magazine, Blom recounted how her private teacher Ferdinand Timmermans temporarily ceased teaching her, given that she had little hope of being accepted to the Royal Carillon School 'Jef Denyn' as a woman. Unruffled, she hosted a summer concert series one year of exclusively women performers. She also established Gouda's famed Candle Night tradition with mobile carillon.