Anja Bihlmaier, conductor
Photo credit: Marco Borggreve
Beginning in September of 2024, Anja Bihlmaier will be the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Bihlmaier has a longstanding relationship with the orchestra, and the players are keen to have her on the podium for her precision, musical intuition, and the relationships that she has build with ensemble members. She made her Proms debut in 2023, and in addition to conducting Proms 26 this year (see below) will also appear with the Glyndebourne Opera’s production of Carmen on August 29. Bihlmaier has conducted orchestras throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and Western Europe. In addition to the BBC Philharmonic, this season she will be conducting the Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Bergen, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, and the Spanish National Orchestra.
Sarah Gibson, composer (21 May 1986 – 14 July 2024)
Photo Credit: https://www.sarahgibson-music.com/photos
On Thursday August 8 Bihlmaier conducted the Proms 26 concert with the BBC Philharmonic. It featured Sarah Gibson’s tone poem for orchestra warp & weft (2019) in addition to the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra commissioned Gibson’s piece as part of their Sound Investment program, and premiered it alongside Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings (1933). For the piece, Gibson was inspired by the pioneering feminist art of Miriam Schapiro, and specifically her idea of “femmage”—feminist collage, which includes “any activity practiced by women using traditional women’s techniques to achieve their art.” Here “traditional women’s techniques” belies a stark difference between craft or decorative art and the kinds of “high art” that are more common in museums and that have historically been gate-kept by male artists. For Gibson, weaving was the most inspirational of these arts, and it greatly influenced her work on warp & weft. The tone poem features a limited orchestra —two parts each for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet; plus timpani, percussion, piano, and a full complement of strings. Gibson received her master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of Southern California after studying at Indiana University, and remained an active teacher in various colleges and conservatories in the region, in addition to serving as assistant director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. Sadly, she passed away from colon cancer on July 14, 2024. (Another obituary here)
The Merian Ensemble (Christina Smith, flute; Emily Brebach, English horn/oboe; Marci Gurnow, clarinet/bass clarinet; Jessica Oudin, viola; Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp) have released a new studio album titled The Book of Spells, available from Navona. It features world-premiere works by eight women composers—Clarice Assad, Nicole Chamberlain, Jennifer Higdon, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, Soon Hee Newbold, Kimberly R. Osberg, and Lynne Plowman—played by five women musicians, all of whom are also members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in addition to their work with the Merian Ensemble. It’s a rare thing to find an album that not only features only female composers, but also has only female musicians playing their music. This kind of work is Merian’s bread and butter: they formed in 2018 to promote women composers, musicians, and women’s representation in classical music. They give concerts and conduct public musical outreach events throughout the greater Atlanta area. Pieces from their “Listen: Works by Women” concert series are available on their website.
AND, the excitement continues at the Bard Festival on August 17, when Louise Farrenc’s Symphony n. 3 will be featured on the program. The event will stream, and I am told the stream link is good for 24 hours. We are thrilled that the American Symphony Orchestra is performing from our edition, which is available on our shop page!
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