News to start your week on another sultry Monday!
On Thursday July 25th at 7:00 PM, the fellows of the Classical Tahoe Academy will perform a concert celebrating women composers with members of the Classical Tahoe Orchestra at the Ricardi Pavilion at Sierra Nevada College. This concert is part of their Chamber Music at Classical Tahoe series, which runs from July 21 – August 4.This concert will feature three classic pieces by 19th and early 20th century women composers as well as one recent favorite: Jessie Montgomery‘s Strum for string quintet (2006, rev. 2012), Cécile Chaminade‘s Concertino, Op. 107 for flute and piano (1902), Fanny Mendelssohn‘s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 11 (1846/7, pub. 1850), and Louise Farrenc’s Nonet in E-flat Major, Op. 38 (1849). The newcomer, Montgomery’s Strum, has been a favorite of such ensembles as the Borromeo Quartet, the Bismuth Quartet, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the Harlem Chamber Players. Tickets can be purchased via Classical Tahoe’s website.
On Friday July 19, conductor Elim Chan will conduct her third BBC Proms concert, opening the first night of the iconic annual festival at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It’s Chan’s first time opening the festival, and she is one of only a handful of women conductors who have done so. For her program she has chosen three classical favorites: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 alongside Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto, which will feature soloist Isata Kanneh-Mason. Her full interview with Florence Lockheart can be read here.
The Albany Symphony Orchestra announced that its new executive director, Emily Fritz-Endres, will begin her duties in August 2024 following a national search. The orchestra is particularly excited to have the skill and experience of Fritz-Endres in their corner; she come to the orchestra having previously worked for both the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. For both orchestras, she has worked to organize the projects and maintain the relationships that keep such organizations solvent and in touch with their communities. One of her projects was the opening of the Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood. We look forward to seeing what the two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning Albany Symphony will be able to take on under her leadership as it celebrated its 100th anniversary. Fritz-Endres’s interview with WNYT News 13 can be seen here.
On August 4, pianist Sarah Cahill will present a concert of music by women from around the globe entitled The Future is Female at the Mount Gretna Playhouse in Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania. The concert will feature the world premiere of Tina Davidson‘s Bending Light (for piano and three-inch drywall screws), as well Maria Corley‘s Lucid Dreaming (for solo piano). Preceding the concert will be a talk with the two composers. Cahill will also include five historical pieces on the concert: selections from the Keyboard Suite in D minor (1687) by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre; Sonata No. 9, op. 5 no. 3 (1811) by Hélène de Montgeroult; Two Etudes, Op. 26 (1839) by Louise Farrenc; Vítězslava Kaprálová’s April Preludes (1937); and Praeludium in C major (1878) by Ethel Smyth. The concert reflects the mission of her project The Future is Female (from which the concert gets its name), which she began in 2018. Currently, the project has three albums available from First Hand Records and most major streaming services.
We enjoyed reading about baritone Will Liverman’s new recording “Show Me the Way,” published by Cedille Records. It includes songs by Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, Libby Larsen, a scene from Amy Beach’s opera Cabildo, and concludes with Liverman at the piano accompanying his own mother singing a gospel hymn. “Who can’t help but adore a man who honors his mother this way.” Hear clips and learn more here.
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