I was thrilled to hear NPR reporting on a woman composer on All Things Considered recently. Celeste Headlee spoke with Louise Toppin, opera singer and voice professor at the University of North Carolina, on the life and work of Margaret Bonds.

Bonds, who died in 1972, would have celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, March 3. The story recognized her work, music, and collaborations (like with poet Langston Hughes and soprano Leontyne Price), and highlighted that Bonds was one of the most recognized female African-American classical composers of her time. And, like too many other women, her work is little-known today.

Among her accomplishments was being the first African American to perform with the Chicago Symphony (as a solo pianist during her senior year of college, no less!) She was also a student of Florence Price, who helped pave the way for women and African Americans in the classical music scene.

Last weekend a symposium was held in honor and memory of Margaret Bonds at the University of North Carolina. It was co-hosted by UNC and Videmus, a non-profit organization “committed to educational and collaborative projects on the repertoire of African Americans, women, and under-represented composers through the promotion and production of recordings, concerts, and other programs.”

Kudos to UNC and Videmus to what appears to be a fantastic weekend of shared music remembering the work of Bonds.

Be sure to listen to the whole story archived on NPR’s website which includes excellent examples of Bond’s work. But the most poignant part of the conversation happened at the very end:

HEADLEE: Describe for me that moment when you were 10 years old and your piano teacher sets a piece of music before you that’s not Bach and is not Mozart and wasn’t written by somebody from long ago or who looks nothing like you but was another dark-skinned American woman. What was that like?

TOPPIN: The fact that I can remember, it tells you the impact that it had on me. I was floored. It set me on the path to find out more about Margaret Bonds, believe it or not, as a child. So that pride and that interest in her started my path of looking for more of her stuff but also looking for women composers and recognizing that they are a rare commodity, but they have a voice in our musical culture and musical life. And she made very strong statements with the music that she wrote.

And isn’t that the point of it all? Shouldn’t more students be exposed to music as varied and diverse as they are? Though the “great masters” will always have a place in the repertoire, we cannot begin to measure the tremendous and positive impact of a young student having the opportunity to learn about and perform the works of a composer that they can relate to on a personal level. Insisting that students only learn the music of dead, white men just continues the false notion that the only “good” music was written by dead, white men.

Here is Bond’s “You Can Tell The World”:


 

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been making headline after headline as of late—and not for the same reasons that it did just a year or so ago. The orchestra that was only months ago presented with the first Amy Award for programming excellence has now fired the Music Director that made the award possible. The situation surrounding the termination of conductor Arild Remmereit is becoming increasingly complicated and frustrating for the RPO musicians and Remmereit’s supporters.

While I am not qualified to speak directly to the circumstances, and the extremely divided viewpoints on the matter, I do have a great concern regarding the future programming of the RPO.

Maestro Remmereit’s programming choices made a significant impact for Rochester and the larger classical music community, even with his extremely abbreviated tenure.  A recent editorial in the Democrat and Chronicle spoke to the difficult situation that now exists in Rochester, and acknowledged among Remmereit’s achievements the inclusion of work by women and minority artists. In fact, his programming choices were so innovative as to warrant an invitation for the RPO to performing during the 2014 Spring For Music festival at Carnegie Hall. The original press release proudly announced that their performance, scheduled for May 7, 2014, would include Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony and other works by women composers. It seemed only logical that RPO would perform Beach at Carnegie Hall—the honor of participation came as a result of their adventurous and innovative programming. In other words: because Remmereit dared to feature under-performed works by women composers.

Imagine my surprise when I read in a press release from January that the RPO has changed their repertoire for the Spring For Music festival – instead of presenting the rich concert of works by women, the RPO, under the direction of Michael Christie, will perform Howard Hanson’s opera Merry Mount.

I am confused why the decision would be made to so dramatically change the programming for participation in the Spring For Music festival, particularly when the inclusion of works by women was a significant factor in the invitation to participate at all.

Regardless as to the personal and/or political factors of the recent dismissal, the RPO Board is gravely remiss to not acknowledge the positive developments in programming and engagement that have resulted from Remmereit’s vision. They were happy to acknowledge the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming (due in part to including works by Karen Tanaka and Margaret Brouwer), as well as the Amy Award from Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy. Why suddenly ignore and dismiss the progress that has been made and the national recognition that has been garnered from diverse programming?

Jennifer Higdon (photo credit Candace di Carlo)

Jennifer Higdon’s piece “Machine” was recently included in an RPO concert.   The program was originally meant to also include a work by Margaret Brouwer, which the management cut for budgetary reasons.  Having two works by women on one program was another example of Remmereit’s visionary decisions.  My colleague Liane Curtis mentioned the situation to Higdon, and Higdon observed:

Maestro Remmereit looks like an incredibly inventive programmer of fascinating concerts. These are the kind of concerts I dream about being able to attend. (email, Jan. 25, 2013)

I second her opinion. It would be a terrible turn of events if the RPO Board, and every orchestra Board, didn’t recognize the value of innovative and diverse programming and build on the past RPO successes. Instead, I fear, they will be advocating for more of the all too familiar, with the result that  those innovative concerts that we’ve been dreaming will go unheard.

Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy was delighted to award the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Arild Remmereit with the first ever AMY Award for Excellence in Orchestral Programming.

We have kept up with the RPO over the 2011-2012 season. During his first season with the ensemble, Remmereit set a wonderful precedent by programming eight works by historic and contemporary women. Liane Curtis, the WPA founder and president, made the trip to Rochester on Thursday to present the award, this beautiful sculpture designed by Rita Blitt.

You can read the RPO’s press release on the award here.

And do be sure to stop by Arild Remmereit’s Facebook page for photos of the maestro with Liane as well as with composer Margaret Brouwer, who was commissioned by the RPO. Her new work, Caution Ahead—Guard Rail Out was premiered on Thursday on a program that also included Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths: A Dedication to Mary and Martha.

Congratulations to the RPO and Arild Remmereit! We look forward to more good work to come next season!

Two performances this past weekend, titled “Treasures Beloved and Unknown,” exposed audiences of the North State Symphony in Chico and Redding, California to the work of Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979). The piece performed was Clarke’s most remembered composition, the Viola Sonata, arranged for viola and orchestra by Ruth Lomon, an acclaimed composer who is currently based in Boston.

Read the program notes for the piece here.

The solo violist was Melissa Matson, principal violist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra—the same orchestra that has demonstrated their commitment to the performances of works by women.

Photo by ChicoER.com

You can read the local review from Chico Enterprise-Record here. And do note the connection with Melissa Matson and Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy’s own Liane Curtis! Kudos to the great performances, advocacy, and education that was shared with the musicians and audience of the North State Symphony!

Liane at Boston Symphony Hall, 9-30-2011

–  Hey, I haven’t worn a sandwich-board since the VPO protest of 1999!  A lot of fun!

My sign reads:

BSO, why are women composers excluded?
2011-2012: 70 pieces by 32 composers—

ALL of them MEN.

Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy
www.wophil.org
Sign our mailing list!

And I handed out a flier (200 of ‘em!).  It’s amazing how some people look right through you when you are trying to hand them something. Others were, of course, full of interest and enthusiasm! I met some very kind people! And I met BSO artistic administrator Tony Fogg, who I had written back when I wrote James Levine and Mark Volpe in 2008 (and several times after that). He said that he had written me back a lengthy reply, but I never received it.  Too bad to have a miscommunication, I will try again … and again …

Here’s a link to the front of the flier in PDF format  (the back was a summary of my letter to the BSO referenced above)

BSO-Do you recognize them

 

 

NPR’s Deceptive Cadence picked up on a twitter feed recently questioning which composer is the “biggest badass”, with qualifications to include drugs, sex, guts and politics.

The list of composers included (surprise!!!) no women. Though the list, which was compiled here, did include Carlo Gesualdo, a late Renaissance composer who is remembered for his madrigals, chromaticism, and having murdered his wife and her lover and placing their bodies on display. (Interesting that instead of being remembered as a murderer he is praised as being “badass”…)

But this omission of women must have been an oversight – especially considering all of the badass women composers that have lived. My short list includes:

Hildegard von Bingen (who was included in the comments on the NPR story – thanks to Christine Beard)
She was an abbess, mystic and prophet who stood up to every authority in the Medieval Church, including the Pope himself, and lived to tell about it. She was also the first composer to so fastidiously document their work and sign their name to it – unheard of for even men at the time.

Dame Ethel Smyth
How much more badass can you get than being arrested for the cause you are fighting for (British women’s suffrage) – and continue to lead your followers even from behind prison bars? (Who doesn’t know the story of Smyth conducing her “March for Woman” from her cell window with a toothbrush??)

Nadia Boulanger
Forced to work at a young age due to the death of her father, Nadia took on jobs performing and teaching music to support her family. She took on the Prix de Rome by force and ruffled feathers along the way. Though she didn’t win (second place isn’t shabby either), she certainly paved the way for other women, including sister Lili. Nadia was also the first woman to conduct the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her students included Aaron Copland and Astor Piazzola, and seemingly countless others, and her work continues to live on through the next generations.

Wendy Carlos
Wendy’s work with the Moog synthesizer, most notably her album Switched-On Bach re-introduced classical music to the masses. That album, first released in 1968, was one of the first classical LPs to sell 500,000 copies – eventually going gold and platinum. The album also brought home three Grammy awards: Album of the Year (Classical), Best Classical Performance, and Best Engineered Recording (Classical).

Clara Wieck Schumann
A child prodigy who defied her father to marry Robert, Clara also completely changed the format and standard repertoire of piano recitals. She took care of an often-ailing Robert and raised seven children while traveling and performing to make sure that they and continuing to travel and perform to share Robert’s music and bring home a paycheck. She out lived four of her eight children (one died in infancy) as well as her husband, and cared for her grandchildren when necessary. She continued to advocate for Robert’s works, including taking the lead roles of editor and interpreter until her death.

But this is just five of certainly dozens of women composers and musicians who fought the odds and managed to make a place in history for themselves (even if it is often forgotten in text books and in online polls).

Who else should be on this list???

It was just announced that the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) will be suspending operations due to finances. This is sad news, but (unfortunately) not surprising due to the continued financial difficulties facing all arts organizations.

Why I am particularly saddened by the difficulties of this organization is due to the work and achievements of its founder and conductor Alondra de la Parra. Though young, she has already made headlines numerous times for her innovative programming, creativity, and having been the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York City. Below is a video describing not only de la Parra’s achievements, but the truly inspired educational programming that she and the POA provide to school children:

You can click here to support the organization and help ensure further inspired and diverse programming.

NPR’s Classical Music blog, Deceptive Cadence, has been running a series on how to introduce and include children in classical music making and appreciating. The series has included many thoughtful comments by readers as well as guest-posts from some big names – including conductor Marin Alsop.

Not surprisingly, while the comments list a range of examples of composers or specific pieces, women’s work in music is not mentioned at all. (You can read some selected reader’s comments here).

It would seem to me that one simple way to invite children to participate with and become interested and invested in music making is to demonstrate that everybody has a right to become a music-maker, whether it is a composer, conductor, or performer. Part of appreciating music is learning how it was created, and by whom. Children are certainly getting enough of Bach, Beethoven and the other boys in the cursory music education provided in their school programs (at least the ones that haven’t been cut, or will be cut in the near future). It’s easy to forget that a mother’s lullaby is more likely than not the first music a child is exposed to.

Beyond Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, why not also discuss how Anna Magdalena worked with J.S. Bach to give a music education to all 20 children in their home? Or play Amy Beach’s Hermit Thrush at Morn and describe how she could listen to a bird’s song and transcribe it perfectly? Or give Ruth Crawford Seeger the credit that too-often is directly transferred to her husband for recording and sharing countless folk songs and rural music traditions, many of which are still sung routinely as part of early music education?

Children lead by example and are highly intuitive. If a young girl is never introduced to the idea that there are countless women who work, or have worked, as composers, what’s to say that she will ever entertain the notion for herself? The same can be said for children who are never exposed to women conducting orchestras.

I recently referred to an interview with Rachael Worby that ran in the New York Times. Worby, who has spoken openly about the resistances she has faced in pursuing a career in music due to her gender, spoke directly about the importance of such exposure:

Ms. Worby says she is thrilled that the children who see her on the podium know otherwise. “A teacher once came backstage at Carnegie Hall with a fifth-grade girl who spent the first 10 minutes of the concert asking, ‘When is the conductor coming out?’ ” Ms. Worby says. “Then the teacher realized that the girl was waiting for a man to appear, and she said, ‘That woman is the conductor.’ “

Introducing children to classical music, or any music, should also mean being vigilant about sharing and describing the diversity that exists but is all-too-easily ignored. Making sure that classical music traditions not only continue but thrive in future years depends on the excitement and eagerness of today’s young musicians. Is it not then vital to provide as complete a picture of what “classical music” looks and sounds like?

The blog of Tony Woodcock, president of the New England Conservatory, has caused quite a stir as of late – at least around the members of the International Alliance for Women in Music.

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.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this month, every month is Women’s History Month at WPA, as it is in every feminist community.  There are many concerns and mixed feelings about what it means to separate one month for the recognition of one group – and understandably so.  If we remember the works of women in March, does that mean we get to go back to neglecting them in April?  Certainly not – but that is more than likely the case in the general public.

This March there have been several notable “celebrations” of women’s work in music by different radio stations and publications.

WGBH in Boston has been featuring the contributions of women to classical music each weekday morning in the 7 o’clock hour.  Shame that it isn’t featured in a later program when more listeners might be listening (though, I suppose there might be at least a few sitting in rush hour traffic….)  WGBH also did a feature on Nadia Boulanger in honor of Women’s History month, though the cynic in me is quick to note that Nadia is mostly remembered as the teacher of many famous male composers.

Amanda Angel of WQXR in New York City compiled a list of the “Top Five Women Composers” to counter Tommasini’s list of top ten composers that neglected any women.  On WQXR’s list are Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Amy Beach, Hildegard von Bingen, and Lili Boulanger.  Though the effort is commendable, the piece lacks some careful fact checking and depth that is deserved on the topic.  But, I am rather biased.

Certainly the best piece that I have (at least as of yet) seen featuring women composers in March is by Fiona Maddocks of The Guardian.  The opening paragraph sets just the right mood:

Try this test. Write down all the women composers you know of. No, don’t run away. Given the nature of this column, stick to contemporary classical. Too hard? OK, include anyone, past or present, who has written religious, symphonic, chamber, vocal, choral, operatic, electro-acoustic works. To make it simple, film and TV scores are allowed too. Still zero? You’re in distinguished company. The Guardian‘s 100 Most Inspiring Women this week, marking the 100th International Women’s Day, featured not one.

Though, the candor that Maddocks shares with readers shouldn’t be surprising – Maddocks is familiar with the topic of women in music, having written a biography of Hildegard von Bingen.  Her piece, which I highly recommend, not only recognizes the continued absence in programming (specifically in the UK), but also the efforts that are being made.  For example, Sue Perkins, who won the reality-TV conducting competition several years back, conducted an all-women’s orchestra in a performance of Ethel Smyth’s “The March of the Women” as the final performance of the Women of the World conference held last weekend.  Maddocks concludes her piece with a list of eight young composers to look out for.

Certainly, we are working towards a time where it is not necessary to highlight the gender (or race, or nationality, etc.) of the composers that are being performed.  The challenge that Maddocks presented to her readers clearly demonstrates that we are not yet even close.  Till then, our work continues.