Summer is official upon us – and so, too, is the summer festival season.  Here are some highlights of works by women that can be heard this year.

The Aspen Music Festival will include works by Nina C. Young (winner of the 2014 Jacob Druckman Prize), Judith Shatin, Jennifer Higdon, Shulamit Ran, and Galina Ustvolskaya.

Bard SummerScape will be offering the first fully staged performance Ethel Smyths The Wreckers to happen in the United States with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein.  Read the press release for more information about this work and this historic, and long overdue, performance.

Bravo!Vail will include Jennifer Higdon as performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Roomful of Teeth performing Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Partita for 8 Voices.

The Cabrillo Festival will hear works by Ana Lara, Hannah Lash, and Missy Mazzoli.

The Santa Fe Opera will give the world premiere of Cold Mountain, the new opera by Jennifer Higdon based on the book by Charles Frazier.  Watch the video below for a preview and discussion of the work:

What festivals are happening in your communities?  Leave a comment to let us know what we missed, and where works by women are being performed this summer.