Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain

Louis Moreau Gottschalk became the first American-born composer recognized as a virtuoso across Europe, praised by Chopin, who reportedly told the teenage pianist he would become 'the king of pianists.' His compositions, including Bamboula and La Savane, wove African and Creole musical traditions from his native New Orleans into the classical repertoire decades before that fusion became common. A scandal over an alleged affair with a student forced him to leave the United States permanently in 1865; he died four years later, having collapsed while performing in Rio de Janeiro.