We hope you are enjoying your summer!  Here are a few of the exciting things happening!!

On July 23 from 4:00 to 5:30 PM composer Nathalie Joachim will offer a Master Class in the Visiting Masters – Composition series at the Grant Park Music Festival (Chicago). The following night (July 24 at 6:30 pm central time) the musicians of the Grant Park Music Festival will give the world premiere of her Cocoon for orchestra alongside pieces by Grieg and Beethoven.  While there is no video stream, the audio will stream live on 98.7 WFMT or at wfmt.com.  There are two open rehearsals for the concert on Tuesday the 23rd and Wednesday the 24th, both from 11am – 1:30pm, and a pre-concert talk will be precede the concert on the 24th at 5:30 pm. The program notes for the concert are here.  This is an exciting opportunity to hear a new work by Nathalie Joachim!

Nathalie Joachim is a Grammy-nominated performer and composer. The Nation has hailed her work as “fresh” “invigorating” and “cross-cultural,” reflecting her early life spent in Brooklyn, NY and her Haitian-American roots. As a flutist, vocalist, and composer, her artistic practice focuses on employing storytelling and human connections to advocate for social change and improve listeners’ cultural awareness. Much of her music draws on her Haitian culture. Her most recent album of chamber music, Ki moon ou ye, is currently available to stream and purchase.

 

On September 6, 2024 the Mallarmé music festival will present their concert “Of River and Field: Contemporary vocal chamber music by and about women” in the Nelson Music Room in Durham, North Carolina. Chamber music (pieces not yet announced) by Amy Beach, Caroline Shaw, and Jennifer Higdon will form the bulk of the concert. The only piece on the program not composed by a woman is Kenneth Frazelle’s Through the Window, an eleven-song cycle honoring and celebrating his mother’s life in eastern North Carolina. Through the Window is a favorite piece of Mallarmé Music: from June 20–26, 2020 the Mallarmé Chamber Players streamed the world premiere of the song cycle during the pandemic. Two of the musicians, Andrea Edith Moore (soprano) and David Heid (piano) will perform on this concert, joined by Grace Anderson (cello). Frazelle’s song cycle pays tribute to his mother’s life in eastern North Carolina following the Great Depression. His work examines both the joys and hardships of her life in ways that he believes honors her experience and resonates with audiences.

The American Composers Forum has lately announced five calls for materials for women and gender marginalized musicians on its current web page of available opportunities. This page is updated regularly. The five calls for materials include: the Musiqa Emerging Composer Commission, seeking women composers who are eligible to work in the US and have completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree in music within the past five years; the National Sawdust Hildegard Commission, seeking early-career composers of film music with collaborators; and three separate calls for the Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Connecticut. The Call for Scores seeks works for percussion quartet for composers at any career stage; the Music Marathon seeks both live and virtual/digital entries by composers, composer-performers, and and performers featuring work by women from all career stages; the Scholarly Symposium seeks in-person or virtual presentations, panels, and lecture-recitals exploring the lives and works of composers who identify as women (historical or contemporary) from scholars at any career stage.

A few women composers and performers will be featured in upcoming BBC Proms concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, London. On July 26th, Cheryl Frances-Hoad‘s Cello Concerto will be played on a concert by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth alongside music by Britten and Elgar. The concert will also feature Laura van der Heijden (cello). On July 30th, Anna Clyne‘s The Gorgeous Nothings commissioned by the BBC will have its world premiere alongside music by Messiaen. Performing will be the BBC Philharmonic under the baton of Nicholas Collon. On July 31, the BBC Philharmonic under the direction of John Storgårds will play Cassandra Miller‘s viola concerto I cannot love without trembling, a BBC co-commission.

 

Be sure to let us know what we missed and what you are listening to!  [email protected]