News and music to start your week!
We hope that all women –and people of all genders! — were able to celebrate and enjoy International Women’s Day yesterday (March 8). There were musical celebrations around the world! Classical-Music.com compiled a selection of broadcasts and events being held in celebration. Sadly, some (like that of the Community Women’s Orchestra in Oakland, CA) were cancelled or postponed due to the Corona Virus.
The Guardian offered a list (with many links to listen to) of 10 women whose music we should know : “gender imbalance is too often framed as a problem for women alone to grapple with. .. so… we asked 10 of the UK’s leading male conductors to nominate a female composer whose music deserves wider recognition.” The responses are varied and fascinating — and range from the (French) Louise Farrenc to living composers such as Shruthi Rajasekar (b. 1996). But could we ask SOME women conductors as well?
The Seattle Choir has been the next ensemble to announce programming in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. Read more about the all-women event, led by Karen P. Thomas (pictured above) at KNKX.org.
The Vancouver Sun explores the history of women composers of the Baroque era. Read about the concert the Elektra Women’s Choir put together in honor of International Women’s Day.
Naxos offers this 64-page PDF catalog of CDs of music by women and this web-page where you can explore the recordings and listen to excerpts. I (Liane) have to say, I’m a little disturbed by the “colorized” photo of Florence Price that Naxos uses on their PDF catalog. … perhaps a topic to be explored another day ….
We were very moved to learn about composer and pedagogue Erzsébet Szőnyi in this obituary by Matthias Funkhauser.
The Fleischer Collection of the Philadelphia Free Library is a priceless treasure, as an orchestral lending library. They regularly share recordings made of treasures in their collection via SoundCloud. This month’s features music by Priscilla Alden Beach, and Molly Kien! So enjoy these discoveries!
And let us know how you are celebrating! i[email protected]