Feminist in the Concert Hall
Iran’s First Female Conductor
Public Radio International (PRI) aired a story yesterday on Nazanin Aghakhani - the first woman to conduct an orchestra in Iran. Listen (or find the full text) here. Here is a clip from Aghakani's YouTube page: A composer as well as a conductor, you can hear...
Liza Lim in the New Yorker
Alex Ross has a great piece being published in the next New Yorker about Australian composer Liza Lim. Read the full piece here to learn more about Lim's background as well as to get a sense of her musical style and how her song cycle "Mother Tongue" unfolds and...
British Women’s Symphony Orchestra
Just stumbled across this brilliant archival footage of the British Women's Symphony Orchestra: THE BRITISH WOMEN'S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The ensemble was founded in 1922 (this clip is from 1934). Thanks to http://www.britishpathe.com/ for the video, and the...
Kaija Saariaho: A Primer
By Susan M. Brown Though now hailed as one of the greatest Finnish composers of her generation, Kaija Saariaho readily recalls a time at the Sibelius Academy when male teachers balked at teaching a "pretty girl," claiming it was a waste of their time. But Saariaho,...
Tania León
Tania León (b. 1943) is a Cuban born composer and conductor. She began studying piano at the age of four and went on to complete a Bachelor's Degree at the Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory and a Master's Degree from National Conservatory. She settled in New York in...
Women and Music Festival: Eastman Community Music School
The first of three Festival concerts on Saturday, March 29, was performed by students of the Eastman Community Music School. Boys and girls performed works composed by women, and four girls performed really lovely pieces that they had written themselves. The Lowry...