2024 is wrapping up with plenty of chances to hear music by women composers!
Imogen Holst; photo credit Bruno Lima, courtesy Amelia Marriette
On November 24th, Imogen Holst‘s Concerto for Violin and Strings (1935) received its first public performance at St Andrew’s Holborn in London by the Elgar Sinfonia of London alongside music by Sir Edward Elgar and Gerald Finzi. This premiere took place ninety years after its original composition. This is a relatively early work for the composer—she composed it at age 28; she continued composing and working in music until well into her 70s. A preview clip of the performance can be heard here.
On Friday November 15, the New Orchestra of Washington presented “Eroica Rising: Celebrating Women’s Heroic Journey,” their program of three pieces celebrating the journey of women in the United States at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Featured on the program were two pieces by women composers, Camille Pépin’s Sound of Trees and Joan Tower’s Made in America, that both evoke the strength, spirit, and determination of women. The concert finished with Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony—“a work originally dedicated to heroism, as we honor the unwavering courage and pioneering spirit of women throughout American history.” The NOW hopes that this program will be a testament to the contributions that women have made and continue to make to American society and celebrate their continued journey toward equality.
Below is a recording of Tower’s Made in America by the Texas Festival Orchestra at the Round Top Music Festival in 2018.
On Friday November 22 the Danbury Community Orchestra presented “A Heritage of Music from Women Composers,” at the Veronica Hagman Concert Hall in Danbury, Connecticut. The program featured the music of three women composers: Florence Price’s Suite of Dances, Henriette de Beaumesnil’s Sinfonia from Tibulle et Délie, and Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. Price and Farrenc’s music are both heard pretty regularly at WPA and the composers are fan favorites. Beaumesnil’s music is in the process of being rediscovered, thanks in part to efforts by the ARS Femina Archive and Ensemble at Indiana University. The ensemble began as a way to revive and perform music by women from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and then later extended through the 18th century. Currently the materials from Tibulle et Délie are the only extant score that we have for her. She was a French opera singer and composer who survived both French Revolution and the ensuing Reign of Terror.
Below is the first movement from Beaumesnil’s Sinfonia (1784) performed by the Four Seasons Orchestra and conducted by Carolyn Brow in 2014.
On December 9th Roosevelt Island Concerts will present “Spiritual Voices: Music of Living Women Composers” at the Verizon Executive Education Center in New York. Works by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jesse Montgomery, Joan Tower, and Anna Weesner will be performed.
Below is a performance of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s “Reqs” (2015) performed by Owls (quartet) at the Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana in 2022.
On December 15th Reflets du Silence, Duo de la Luna, Adam Tender, and Ruth Herdsman-Miller will present their collaborative program “Celebration of the Voice of Women Composers” at 7:00 PM at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, NYC. The program will present nine pieces by six women composers: Susan Botti’s Mangetsu; Kervy Delcy’s Bondage, and Liaisons Dangereuses; Ruth Hertzman-Miller‘s The Purist, Frage, and Philosophy; Missy Mazzoli’s Forgiveness Machine; Marie-Jeanne Serero’s Lumière Invisibles; and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “The plum tree I planted still there.”
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