As summer hurtles towards a close, we hope your week is off to a great start!
Karen Slack, soprano
On September 13, 2025 Karen Slack (soprano) will bring her concert celebration of historic African Queens to the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, presented by Portland Opera (Oregon). Amid its celebration of African Queens are new works by acclaimed women composers— I Am Not Your God by Jasmine Barnes and The Song of Nzingha by Jessie Montgomery— alongside established pieces from the classical repertoire, including Florence Price’s Night and Bewilderment. The concert will also include works by Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Will Liverman, Carlos Simon, Joel Thompson, and Damien Geter. In addition to platforming excellent work by black women composers, the concert promises to be a vibrant celebration of black composers past and present. Slack, together with pianist Michelle Cann, recently won a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Album for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price (Azica Records). And in 2022 Slack received a Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
Molly Carr (viola) and Anna Petrova (piano)
On September 5th the Park University International Center for Music‘s 2025-26 concert season will begin with a performance by violist Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova showcasing classical music created entirely by female composers. The opening concert will include works by Florence Price, Clara Schumann (originally for violin and arranged for viola), Vivian Fung (composed from source material by Hildegard of Bingen), Rebecca Clarke, Amy Beach, Beyoncé/Henrique Eisenmann, and a piece by Andra Casarrubios commissioned by the duo based on music by Palestinian Women Ensemble Daughters of Jerusalem.
Gabriela Ortiz, composer
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced its performance of Gabriela Ortiz’s ballet and LA Phil commission, Revolución diamantina, which will appear on its concerts in February 2026. The commission was part of the orchestra’s Pan- American music initiative – to emphasize the importance of Latin American heritage. Revolución diamantina takes its name from an event in Mexico City during the 2019 country-wide feminist protests against violence against women. Protesters threw pink glitter at Mexico City’s police chief as a part of denouncing the rape and harassment of women by local officers. Ortiz’ composition was premiered in 2023, and the LAPhil’s recording received three Grammy’s in the spring of this year — Best Orchestral Performance, Best Classical Compendium, and Revolución diamantina was named Best Contemporary Classical Composition, a completely unprecedented achievement for a new work!
Yet, Revolución diamantina has never been performed as it was conceived of — as a ballet. So the February 2026 performances will be another premiere, being performed with the Brazilian-influenced Grupo Corpo Dance Company. With its powerful imagery and abstract narrative addressing the issue of violence against women, we look forward to experiencing Ortiz’ vast ballet as a multi-disciplinary whole.
Here is an excerpt from Act IV of Revolución diamantina, performed at the 2025 Grammy Awards by the LA Philharmonic, led by Gustavo Dudamel.
Laura Sheils, researcher, educator, and composer
On September 1st, tickets for the Contemporary Music Center of Ireland’s talk spotlighting women composers will be available to reserve. The talk itself will take place at 6pm local time on October 1st, but the Contemporary Music center venue is small and tickets are expected to go fast. Scholar-in-residence Laura Shiels will present a talk and listening session exploring contemporary choral repertoire in Ireland, featuring work by women composers who are active in New Music Ireland including Out from Under the Overwhelm by Nora Walsh and Praise the Lord of Love by Anne-Marie O’Farrell. The compositions featured are written for mixed and upper-range voices and have a range of themes.
This talk is part of series of free public talks in contemporary choral music in Ireland that Sheils is giving as part of her CMC residency, in addition to curating a new catalogue of music from the CMC’s archive. Sheils is a PhD researcher, choral composer, and music educator, and her research examines the compositional styles and text settings of choral works by contemporary Irish composers Rhona Clarke and Eoghan Desmond. Her work with the CMC is an extension of that work, but also aims to more broadly promote engagement with music my contemporary Irish composers.
More news: LunArt Festival announces the formation of a treble-voice choir, “a space where women and non-binary voices unite to uplift, inspire, and transform through music.” Led by Jen Terhune Streit, the choir (like the Festival) will be based in Madison, WI. LunArt also announces their annual call for scores opens on Sept. 1. This opportunity is open to women composers of all ages and nationalities!
Let us know what you’re listening to! Email us at info@wophil.org