A Respite From the Chaos
November News from Women's Philharmonic Advocacy (see below for selected concerts)
Regardless as to where you are in the country or the world, it’s been a stressful several weeks/months leading up the election. For as anxious as we all are to see what path forward the United States will take, the election itself is only the beginning of a chaotic time we as approach the holidays. What better time, then, to highlight one of the greatest joys of music - finding a place of calm, peace, and comfort. Here are some suggestions for pieces to focus on as we take collective deep breaths and visualize the future we want.
Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral offers a beautiful combination of introspection with optimism:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Overture will have you relaxing your shoulders in no time.
Short but lovely is Julia Perry’s Prelude for Strings (arr. by Roger Zahab) and recorded this year just by the Experiential Orchestra.
Conference on composer Maria Theresia Paradis
Mount Holyoke College will host a symposium on the life and work of composer and singer Maria Theresia Paradis, titled: Reframing the Gaze: Maria Theresia Paradis, Blind Musicians, and Musical Culture Before & After Braille. Held on November 22-23, the weekend will host papers and concerts, including a Schulkonzert - a reconstruction of one of Paradis’s Vienna school concerts from the 1810s. Registration is free, and there is also an online option for those unable to travel. All events and materials will be preserved and shared on the conference website (with audio descriptions) following the symposium as an accessible, open learning resource.
See you in Chicago!
The annual American Musicological Society conference is in Chicago this year, and Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy will be on site to share information, display our publications — our editions of music by women — make connections, and encourage conversations about, performances of, and scholarship on the work of women composers. Stop by the Book Exhibit to find our table.
November Concerts & Events
On November 7-9 the Seattle Symphony will include Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste in their program, which features French composers.
On November 9, The Minnesota Philharmonic presents “Fanfare and Fantasy,” which includes British composer Alice Mary Smith’s great C-minor (1864). The Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra is the first US orchestra organized to represent and serve the GLBTQA community.
The New York Philharmonic will present Julia Wolfe’s Fountain of Youth November 7-9 & 12. The ensemble will also give the New York Premiere of Gabriella Smith’s Lost Coast on November 14 & 16.
On November 14, 16, & 17 the National Symphony Orchestra will include Cindy McTee’s Double Play.
New Orchestra of Washington will perform at The Kennedy Center on Nov. 15 celebrating the work of women. The program will include two works by women: Sound of Trees by Camille Pépin and Joan Tower’s Made in America.
The St. Louis Symphony Youth Symphony will present their season opener on November 16, beginning their concert with Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will include Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem on November 21 & 23. Allison Loggins-Hull’s Homeland will be performed by the CSO on November 24.
The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (one of our Performance Grant winners!) include’s Jessie Montgomery’s stirring Hymn for Everyone (2021) on their program November 17.
On November 22 the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will feature Gabriela Ortiz’s Téenek - Invenciones de Territorio. Later that week, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert Series will include a wide variety of music on November 25 & 26 as they seek to engage young children and their families. Included in the program is Julia Perry’s setting of Free at Last.
The Seattle Symphony is hosting composers from the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA) for two performances of a multimedia curation featuring symphony musicians on November 22. The composers featured are: Soosan Lolavar, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Deniz Tafaghodi, Mojgan Misaghi, and Aida Shirazi.
The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform Augusta Holmès “La Nuit et L’amour” from Ludus pro patria on November 22 & 23.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra will perform their Autumn Concert on November 24. Included in their program is Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps.
The Kennedy Center will host the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on November 24. Their program will include a new composition by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer, Ellen Reid.
Have an event you want to be included in a future Newsletter? Contact us below!