Gity Razaz, composer Credit: Ronald Andrew Schvarztman
So much going on!!!
On June 1, 2025, Gity Razaz’s Methuselah (In Chains of Time) will performed by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. The concert is titled “Triumph” and Razaz’ work is “a lush and poignant reflection on the endurance of life inspired by an ancient Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California.” This is one of several concerts throughout the year that feature new works from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation commissions program. In Chains of Time was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support from the Toulmin Foundation.
Iranian-American composer Gity Razaz has played piano and composed from a young age. In addition to orchestral music, she also actively works in chamber music and education. She also has a constellation of awards under her belt: BBC Music Magazine named her a 2022 rising star; the Andrew Imbrie Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded to a” composer of demonstrated artistic merit in mid-career”; the Jerome Foundation award; the Libby Larsen Prize (28th International Search for New Music); the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Composer Institute; Juilliard Composers’ Orchestra Competition; multiple ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer awards and ASCAP Plus awards.
The program that got Razaz’s work in front of an audience was a joint effort by the League of American Orchestras (LAO) and the American Composers Orchestra (ACO). The LAO and ACO have established two consortia of 30 orchestras each, and they support commissioned works by six women and/or nonbinary alumni of the EarShot program—a program that develops “systematic relationships between composers and orchestras.” As one part of their work in the program, participating composers write a 6–8 minute orchestral work that is performed during the season.
Below is a recording of Razaz’s Methuselah (In Chains of Time), performed by Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in 2024.
On Sunday June 8, the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra (in West Hartford) will present their program “American Vistas.” Featured on the program will be the world premiere of Neva Derewetzky’s Waterbird, commissioned by the orchestra; the composer will be in attendance. Derewetzky, based in central New York, earned an MM in Composition from Binghamton University in 2023, and is the recipient of a Kennedy Center Distinguished Achievement Award. Waterbird consists of five movements: I. Waterbird II. Long Shadows III. Tide Pools IV. Changes V. Acquainted with the night. The composer explains “Waterbird is written in five tone poems inspired by time spent camping and backpacking in the summers from when I was young. These experiences have shaped my relationship with the outside world. I wanted to write something that speaks to these spaces that are so close to me. The final movement is inspired by the poem of the same name by Robert Frost.”
From June 3 – June 8 the Chicago Opera Theater will present the world premiere of She Who Dared, by Jasmine Arielle Barnes (Emmy award-winning composer) and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton (librettist). Featuring an all-Black female cast, the opera tells the stories of women who challenged segregation in the Civil Rights era, leading up to Rosa Parks’ historic beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Musicians from D-Composed, the Chicago-based Black chamber music collective, will perform in the production, as will other members of Chicago’s black classical community. The Chicago Opera Theater produces of new and rarely staged operas, and will stage their production at the Studebaker Theater.
Finally, it’s time for WoCo Fest 2025, the Boulanger Initiative’s annual festival celebrating women and gender-marginalized composers, May 30-31! This year’s theme is Uplift, featuring innovative ensembles in a festive opening concert and then a day of musical exhibitions, composer workshops, outdoor performances, and discussions. The festival closes with an electrifying performance by composer/performer and media artist Pamela Z. It takes place at Strathmore, in North Bethesda, MD. 
Let us know what you’re listening to! Email us at info@wophil.org