I’m late in posting this, but the Spring For Music series (which I mentioned earlier), teamed with NPR to make the performance the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra available to stream online. One of the pieces heard in this performance is a relatively newly commissioned work – requested from Maria Schneider (known primarily, if not exclusively for her jazz compositions) by soprano Dawn Upshaw. Even better? In this performance, Schneider is conducting.
Follow this link to hear the full concert, as well as interviews with Maria Schneider and Dawn Upshaw.
Of the significance of Chen’s placement, von Rhein said:
The emergence of women conductors in the symphonic mainstream over the last several decades has been no less historic a phenomenon than the advent of conductors of color.
No argument here.
Follow the link to the review to read more about the (almost) all-women’s-works concert.
Last year conductor Rachael Worby left her position at the Pasadena Pops after 11 seasons with the ensemble. The announcement was in the LA Times last August. Though she never completely receded into the background, fans have been waiting for word of a new project for the conductor. Lucky for us, she just announced a new concert series called Muse/ique, which will have a debut concert in July before a full concert season that will begin in early 2012.
More information about the ensemble and future programming can be found through the Muse/ique website.
Worby’s diverse background, which includes being a former First Lady of West Virginia (1990-1997), has always promoted the Arts and a diverse approach to programming, and I have no doubt that this will continue in her future endeavors. You can read a New York Times interview with Worby from 1994 here. Also available via Worby’s FaceBook page is a conversation that Worby had with Christina Hamlett about music and conducting. The below quote is taken from the article when Worby was asked whether there is a proverbial glass ceiling in conducting:
“Let me tell you something about that ceiling,” she reveals. “It’s actually ferro-cement and I’ve hit it a couple of times.” In a recent op-ed piece she penned following the Baltimore Symphony’s appointment of Marin Alsop, Worby commented, “One would think that in the business of conducting music, a female would be one of the least offensive intrusions into the perceived order of society. But no. The world of classical music is steeped in tradition and, like so many Tevyes, we cling to it with faces reddened and knuckles white. In Baltimore, the selection of Marin Alsop represents opportunity and a willingness to change, but fear not. Those of us in the microscopic world of ‘chicks with sticks’ didn’t get this far without having to be better and better and still better.
She prophecies that time—and lots of it—is what it will take for more of her gender to be handed the baton of world class orchestras. “Twenty-five years ago, there weren’t any women as music directors. Today there are about 10. Maybe in the next 25 years that number will multiply, then multiply again in the following quarter century as more females step into traditionally male venues. In our lifetime,” she muses, “a woman will be president of the United States. Maybe in my daughter’s lifetime, the entire Supreme Court will be all female. One can only hope.”
Slow progress is still progress. But we can do more than hope. We all must be diligent in working towards change. And Worby is doing this though her strong advocacy for diverse programming. Here Worby tells viewers about what to expect from this new project:
Cal Arts has been featuring the works of Russian-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina this past week, and her presence in LA has been duly noted by the LA Times. In spending time with the students and faculty at Cal Arts Gubaidulia said:
“It’s such an opportunity to have so many pieces of mine performed by students and professionals here…In meeting the students of Cal Arts, I am meeting the future musicians of 21st century who will perform my music.”
You can read an interview with the composer here as well as read reviews of the performances of her works performed at the Cal Arts Performing Arts Center as well as of the U.S. Premiere of her percussion concerto, “Glorious Percussion” at the LA Philharmonic.
Here is a video clip of the Berlin Philharmonic performing “Glorious Percussion” under the direction of Dudamel:
The Chicago Sinfonietta is facing a changing of the guard this season. Maestro Paul Freeman, who founded the ensemble in 1987, is retiring from the group, leaving the baton in the hands of Mei-Ann Chen. Chen’s reputation and qualifications leave no doubt that the ensemble is in very capable hands. Not only has Chen conducted all over the world, but she was also the first woman to win the prestigious Malko Competition.
For Freeland’s final concert with the Sinfonietta, he and Chen worked together to create a program to recognize women in classical music. (The image used in the marketing is just perfect, don’t you think?!?)
The concert, heard on May 22 and repeated on May 23, features works by Jennifer Higdon, Gwyneth Walker, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and Reneé Baker. Even if you can’t make it to the concert, you can still read the program notes online here.
The Sinfonietta’s mission is Musical Excellence through Diversity – I look forward to more inclusive and interesting programming from the group under Chen’s baton!
Over at The Rambler, Tim Rutherford-Johnson reviewed a new compilation of works composed by Fellows of the New York Foundation for the Arts. Titled 25 Years of New York New Music, the collection, consisting of 5 discs and 61 tracks, recognizes the works of contemporary composers and their impact on current music.
In discussing this set of works, Rutherford-Johnson says:
New music fans will probably head first for the rare cuts by better-known names in this collection: interestingly, most of these (Pauline Oliveros, Annea Lockwood, Meredith Monk, Eve Beglarian, Joan Tower, Augusta Read Thomas) are women – indeed women composers are very well-represented.
But out of 53 composers to have works included in the compilation, only 14 are women. This is “very well-represented”??
Regardless – follow the links above to find out more information about 25 Years of New York New Music and pay a listen to some of the examples of women’s contributions to the contemporary music community.
A post at The Overgrown Path gave a passing mention to the work of British composer Phyllis Tate. The specific reference was that she, among other British composers, were often neglected due to the fame that Benjamin Britten carried throughout his lifetime. In reading the brief article I was glad to be reminded of the life and work of a composer who continues to be neglected.
Phyllis Tate (1911-1987) was a British composer whose works often fell in the avant-garde category. She had very auspicious beginnings, reportedly being kicked out of grade school for singing bawdy songs, and later teaching herself how to play the ukulele. Though she did continue to the Royal Academy of Music for formal training and was a prolific composer. During her lifetime she had several commissions, including several from the BBC.
She primarily wrote chamber pieces with unorthodox instrumentation and was extremely critical of her earliest works; she destroyed all of works she composed before 1940. Her works were well received in her lifetime. In fact, after hearing her play Dame Ethel Smyth was said to declare, “At least I have a heard a real woman composer!” (More on that anecdote found here.)
Here is an example of her work – Sonata for Cello and Clarinet (1947):
The article that’s causing such a stir, which may seem innocuous at first, touts the merits of the Berlin Philharmonic. Woodcock lauds the ensemble as being “The coolest band in the world” and writes extensively about the ensemble’s merits. What he completely neglects to mention is that the BPO has, by William Osborne’s calculations, the fourth lowest ratio of women musicians in the world. The women in the Berlin Phil make up 13.82% of the ensemble, whereas the women musicians in the New York Philharmonic make up over 40% of the ensemble.
I recommend you read Woodcock’s original post, found here, as well as the comments that have been left bringing up this issue, and invite you to join the conversation and weigh in. Osborne, who I have written about before in relation to his activism and advocacy regarding the Vienna Philharmonic, included extensive information in the comments section. It’s discouraging that Mr. Woodcock hasn’t yet responded to any of the comments to either acknowledge his (perhaps innocent) oversight, or his feelings on the continued problems with equality in (some) European institutions.
For futher reading, I also recommend Osborne’s piece on the status of women in European ensembles, first published by the IAWM in 1996.
