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Happy Giving Tuesday! from Women's Philharmonic Advocacy
From: Dr. Liane Curtis, President, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy
Dear friend,
We’re nearing the end of 2024 and we are still demanding equity for women composers and celebrating the legacy of The Women's Philharmonic (1980-2004). We’re grateful for your partnership in our work, and we’re hopeful that you’ll renew your commitment with increased enthusiasm once you’ve read the following account of our successes and of our plans for the year ahead!
I am happy to report that progress is being made -- many varied orchestras show a growing interest in programming music by women. Although some of the largest and highest-budget ensembles continue to disappoint, we’re seeing a grass-roots movement of smaller ensembles taking up the leadership in creative programming and thinking beyond the traditional canon. Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy (WPA) continues to fill the sails of this movement, generating curiosity and excitement about the music of composers who have been historically marginalized because they are women.
We report on a lot of good news in our weekly blog and in our monthly Substack newsletter. Here are a few highlights from the past year:
-- A new recording by Denver Young Artists Orchestra (one of our Performance Grant Winners) of Alice Mary Smith's Overture to the Masque of Pandora -- listen on your favorite streaming platform. This is the FIRST STUDIO RECORDING of this unknown work from 1878 by the great British composer (listen on your favorite streaming platform).
-- The Grammy© nomination for the Experiential Orchestra’s recording of Julia Perry Violin Concerto and Symphony in One Movement for Violas and String Basses. We are so happy to see Perry's long-hidden music brought to light with such artistic conviction, and we are proud to have helped fund this project!
-- As WPA’s President, I gave presentations at the annual conferences of the International Conductor's Guild in New York City and the Association of California Symphony Orchestras in San Francisco; each time I played a video clip of the Chicago Youth Symphony (another Performance Grant Winner) playing Emilie Mayer's Symphony in f minor (1852), in an energetic performance, received enthusiastic. How wonderful that these young people will know of this composer’s magnificent music, before so many professional musicians do! At ACSO, the Meier video led to discussion with conductor Kedrick Armstrong emphasising his commitment to programing Meier as well as other marginalized composers.
Our growing catalogue of music editions are being widely played – Louise Farrenc’s Symphony no. 1 was performed in Türkiye, our Beach editions were recently performed in Japan and Chile. We are negotiating with the estate of Helen Hagan to publish her 1912 Piano Concerto in C minor, the first orchestral work by a Black woman to be performed in the US. Learn more about our publications here, and here (Amy Beach), and purchase directly here.
To push forward this rising wave of discovery and rediscovery, we are asking for your financial support, so that:
--- our small but mighty staff can continue do outreach with our blog, Newsletter and social media
-- we can continue to build our own publishing program, making music by women available in professionally-edited editions at reasonable prices
--- we can maintain and expand the resources on our website, including repertoire lists such as "500 Operas by Women" (now many more than 500!), and the repertoire of The Women's Philharmonic
-- we can offer financial support through our Grant Program to orchestras eager to perform hidden works by historic women (whose editions, being recent, are often more expensive than the old "classics" that are already in many orchestral libraries or available in the public domain).
This year we are offering our donors a range of unique and inspiring thank-you gifts*:
$30 -- Our Celebrating Women Composers calendar, indicating birthdays and other notable events
$50 -- The Women's Philharmonic CD, with music by C. Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, G. Tailleferre, and L. Boulanger
$75 -- a Fanny Mendelssohn poster – a classic from The Women's Philharmonic
$100 -- award winning Amy Beach children's book
$150 -- original shrink-wrapped CD by The Women’s Philharmonic of orchestral music by Florence Price, from 2001! (quantities limited of this collector's item)
$200 -- newly published children's book about Florence Beatrice Price
$250+ -- your choice of two of the above items (please indicate which with your donation)
DONATE HERE – with PayPal (you may donate with any Bank card or Credit card).
You can also support us by becoming a paid subscriber to our Substack – as of now we have specific pricing ($8 per month, $80 per year, or founding member $240 or more per year) but we will add flexible pricing so you can choose one of the above “Thank You” gifts
We Love Snail Mail! You are welcome to mail a paper check to:
Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy – PO Box 2501 –Santa Rosa, CA 95405-0501
OR, we are on Venmo – @Wophil
We look forward to hearing from you and will appreciate your donation of any size!
Sincerely,
Liane Curtis, and the entire Board of Directors of WPA
* Your acceptance of a thank-you gift will decrease the tax-deductible amount of your donation, according to IRS Tax law of the US; we will indicate the value of your chosen gift in our acknowledgment letter.