Let’s get your week of to a great start!
On January 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM EST Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney will present “Beyond the Box, Into the Barlines: A Guided Tour of Orchestral Women Composers” in partnership with the Boulanger Initiative. This virtual presentation will preview BI’s new guide to repertoire by sixteen women composers of orchestral music from 1700 to the present, and will offer a glimpse into the much larger repertoire of overlooked orchestral music. Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney, Research Manager for the Boulanger Initiative, will be leading the presentation. Interested parties may register online (free) to attend the virtual presentation and pre-order the printed version. Physical copies of the new guide will be available in February.
Errolyn Wallen, composer and Master of the King’s Music
On February 8, 2025 the BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters program will host “Jenni Murray’s Women Composers: Why women, why now?” at 1:00PM local time (7am CST/8am EST). The program will also be available to stream. Program host Jenni Murray will be joined by Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen for the first episode of a new series celebrating music by women composers. Of course, women have always composed music; in recent decades, scholars and performers have been uncovering just how much work of their has been unnoticed or ignored. Murray and Wallen will explore some of the ways the women overcame challenges to their work as composers and musicians, and offer listeners some insight into their lives. They will also play plenty of music!
Below is a recording of “Beehive” from Wallen’s Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Funerals? presented by Monadnock Music in 2009. Vocals performed by the composer.
On February 15, Kassia Music will present its program “Femme Brilliante – Rare Chamber Works by Women” in its third concert of the 2024/25 season at 7:00PM EST at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda, Maryland. A performance by students of the ensemble members will precede the performance at 6:45, and a reception will follow the concert. Composers appearing on the program will include: Grażyna Bacewicz, Gayne Chebotaryan, Rebecca Clarke, Varvara Gaigerova, and Fanny Mendelssohn.
Below is footage from 1952 of Grażyna Bacewicz playing violin on her own composition, Oberek (1949) for Violin and Piano.
Let us know who you’re listening to! Email us at [email protected]