While our focus at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy is on the work of women composers and musicians, we also recognize the importance of recognizing other marginalized groups including BIPOC composers. Thus we are highlighting today the world premiere of Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane (1887). This work is the first full-length opera written by a Black American composer and the stream of the January 25 premiere is available here! The full program for the event is here (PDF). Performed in a collaboration with New Orleans’s OperaCréole, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Historic New Orleans Collection, it is thrilling to hear Dédé’s recently uncovered work be brought to life, in the first of what will surely be many performances.
Renowned conductor, former Principal Conductor of the Women’s Philharmonic, and WPA favorite JoAnn Falletta will join the Omaha Symphony as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor beginning in the 2025/26 Season, as the orchestra announced this week. Falletta is consistently lauded for her work on and off the podium—as a conductor, audience builder, recording artist, and activist for the work of American composers. She currently serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conduct or of the Brevard Music Center, Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony, and the Connie and Marc Jacobson Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony. Under her direction as the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, Falletta brought the BPO into national and international prominence by recording with NAXOS—the orchestra is now one of their leading recording ensembles, with two Grammy awards and one recent nomination.
Below is a recording of Falletta performing Amy Beach’s Symphony, op. 32, “Gaelic,” featuring the Ulster Philharmonic Orchestra at the Ulster Hall in Belfast in 2010.
The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera will celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025 with its program Silver Screen Symphonies, a program designed by 2024 Grammy-Award nominated composer Esin Aydingoz that will highlight the music of female film composers amid other film orchestral favorites. The portion of the program that has been released includes: Music from Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Music from Tár by Hildur Guðnadóttir, “Home is Where the Helm Is” from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds by Nami Melumad, selections from the soundtrack for Jane Austen’s Emma by Rachel Portman, and Music from Encanto and Coco by Germaine Franco. Music Director Designate Ilya Ram (August, 2024) will be joined on stage by Alison Lebovitz who will be narrating the performance.
The Composers Hub Professional Development Program for Women Composers, has recently extended its application deadline for the LunArt Festival (Madison, WI, USA) to Feb 1, 2025. Six composers will be selected from the applicant pool to work with composer-in-residence Chen Yi at the 2025 festival from May 27 – June 1. For more information, please visit https://www.lunartfestival.org/2025composershub
Preceding the Women Composers Festival in Hartford, on February 22 students and faculty of the Eastern Connecticut State University Performing Arts Department will present its Piano Gala: A Celebration of Women Composers at the Fine Arts Instructional Center Concert Hall in Willimantic, CT. The program has not yet been released, but it promises to be an evening celebrating a substantial repertoire that does not get the attention it deserves.
Audience tickets are now available for the 2025 Women Composers Festival of Hartford, held from February 28 – March 1, 2025. All Festival events will take place at Central Connecticut State University’s Founders Hall (on the first floor of Davidson Hall). Tickets for attendance in person can be purchased from the website; signing up for live streams of festival events should be done separately here. Together, both days of the festival will feature three music marathons, scholarly symposia, composition workshops, a reception and a final concert. Descriptions of events and composers/artists-in-residence are updating continually on https://www.womencomposersfestivalhartford.com/ and the organizers request that any questions, comments, or concerns be directed to them via email: [email protected] A number of videos from previous festivals are available on their YouTube channel, including the music featured below:
Naoko Tsujita’s Lighthouse Visions (2023 Composition Workshop); performed by Myra Hinrichs (violin), Carrie Frey (viola) and Helen Newby (cello) as Chartreuse, the WCFoH 2023 Ensemble-in-Residence.
Let us know who you’re listening to! Email us at [email protected]