In the run up to the release of her first profile album, WiM founder member Jenny Fowler is interviewed by Anni Heino of Resonate Magazine. She talks about how she became a composer, the support she has encountered along the way, her current work and collaboration with Lontano ensemble, and the prejudices that women composers came up against in the 1980s, which led to the foundation of Women in Music.
Donne, Women in Music have a survey that our followers might be interested in taking part in, which is investigating your views on how to make a difference for women in music.
You can find the survey here
https://forms.gle/P8NAXKbRdqppRf7Y7
And for more about the project Donne, Women in Music
The one and only gender equal show that champions women composers The Daffodil Perspective.
This week's show includes monthly series Fun With Florence, celebrating the extraordinary story of Florence Price with music from violinist Er-Gene Kahng.
Plus music from Attacca Quartet, Lucija Garuta, Gerswhin, Coleridge-Taylor and more!
https://www.mixcloud.com/TheDaffodilPerspective/the-daffodil-perspective-26th-may-2019/
'The Tailleferre Ensemble is a new chamber collective of female musicians with two principle aims: to promote women in music and to provide a malleable chamber ensemble that can perform works for varied instrumentation, from wind trios to string octets, and varied genre. We will also aim to highlight chamber works by female composers and to commission new works.
Our first set of recitals is for wind trio and quartet, and will feature Emma Halnan on flute, Rebecca Etheridge on bassoon, and Penny Smith and myself on oboe. We are all experienced solo and chamber musicians, with ample biographies as individuals.'
St Giles-in-the-Fields Church,
60 St Giles High Street, London WC2H 8LG (nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road)
Joseph Haydn - 'London Trio no. 1' i Allegro Moderato ii Andante iii Vivave
Melchior Hoffmann - 'Trio sonata in G minor' i Adagio ii Allegro iii Adagio iv Vivave
Julius Rontegen - 'Trio for Flute, Oboe and Bassoon' i Allegretto con spirito ii Poco andante, quasi una fantasia iii Allegretto
Bill Douglas - '3 Lyrical Pieces' i Wings of the Wind ii The Hills of Glencar iii Autumn Song
https://www.facebook.com/Tailleferre-Ensemble-432548670855564/
Sounds, Silences and Suggestions
A concert of partly improvised music
7.30 pm on 18 May at St Gabriel’s Church, Warwick Square, London SW1V 2AD
Tickets on the door: £10 / £7 concessions
Featuring Deborah Edwards (piano), Sally Davies (violin, voice), Kerry Andrews (cello), Derek Foster (piano), Jerry Wigens (clarinet), Assaf Fleischman (piano) and Gordon Edwards (tablas)
Performing music by Cornelius Cardew, Earle Brown, Deborah Edwards, Kerry Andrews and Derek Foster
Three improvisations by Deborah Edwards, Sally Davies, Jerry Wigens, Assaf Fleischmann and Gordon Edwards
https://contaktensemble.org/future-events/
BBC PROMS SURVEY 2019
For
some years Women in Music (UK) has been doing a survey of the numbers of women
represented in the BBC PROMS season. The
Proms is the largest classical music festival in the world. This year there are
58 main evening orchestral concerts, as well as chamber music concerts, daytime
events and late-night concerts. The audiences in the Royal Albert Hall are of
many thousands, and all the concerts are broadcast, many on television.
The figures for women in the
2019 BBC Proms season are:
Composers: 29/160 (18%) [Last year
was 21/133]
Living
composers: 20/59 (33%) [Last
year was 17/43]
BBC Commissions
(or
co-commissions): 5/15 (33%) [Last
year was 12/19]
Conductors: 7/60 (11%) [Last
year was 4/58]
As
for last year I have made a new category for the number of living composers
whose works are substantial (more than 15 mins) and are featured in main
evening concerts. This is because many of the new commissions are for short
pieces in chamber concerts or “family” concerts.
Substantial
works by living composers: 2/9 (22%) [last
year was 5/14] (36%)
The
women composers are: Lera Auerbach, Grazyna Bacewicz, Sally Beamish, Zosha Di
Castri, Sofia Gubaidulina, Fanny Hensel, Hildegard of Bingen, Dorothy Howell,
Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Joanna Lee, Mica Levi, Elizabeth Maconchy, Thea
Musgrave, Laura Mvula, Carly Paradis, Ailie Robertson, Iris ter Schiphorst,
Clara Schumann, Maddelena Laura Sirmen, Alexia Sloane, Linda Catlin Smith,
Barbara Strozzi, Dobrinka Tabakova, Outi Tarkiainen, Anna Thorvaldsdottir,
Freya Waley-Cohen, Errollyn Wallen, Judith Weir, Stevie Wishart. (and Alissa
Firsova, no details given)
The
conductors are: Karina Caneliakis, Elim Chan, Jessica Cottis, Mirga
Grazinyte-Tyla, Sofi Jeannin, Dalia Stasevska, Nathalie Stutzmann.
To
analyse the results: These figures maintain the substantially
better figures of last year. Rather fewer composers but more women conductors
(reflecting the fact that there are more women conductors making their mark in
the world generally). It seems that the marked improvement of the figures last
year is set to continue. The BBC Proms season has always reflected, or been
better than, the proportion of women composers and conductors in other concert
series around the world. Now we need to look at what is happening elsewhere.
Jenny
Fowler
NOTE: To maintain
consistency with past years, I take my figures from the BBC booklet, rather
than the website, which may be slightly different.
Anyone is welcome to quote
these statistics, but please mention the source. The figures for past Proms
seasons are also available on the Women in Music (UK) website: http://www.womeninmusic.org.uk/
In her blog Jessica Duchen looks at the representation of female composers at the BBC Proms 2019 and delves more deeply into the underrepresentation of female and BAME composers in today's classical concerts.
Classic FM Hall of Fame 2019 results are in and 1/300 pieces are composed by a woman. Is the poll really listeners' choice or do the station directly influence the results?
Elizabeth de Brito explores these questions in her blog
https://thedaffodilperspective.com/2019/04/23/classic-fm-hall-of-fame-2019-really-listeners-choice/
This week on The Daffodil Perspective:
Composer of the week: Cheryl Frances-Hoad
Album of the week: Clarinet Repertoire of Women Composers
Contemporary Corner: Rachel Lee Guthrie
https://www.mixcloud.com/TheDaffodilPerspective/the-daffodil-perspective-9th-april-2019/
'Celebrating the bi-centenary of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s birth, Britten Sinfonia and Independent Opera present the first public performance of Joby Talbot’s new cantata, A Sheen of Dew on Flowers. For this major new commission from Independent Opera, Talbot sets rare and sensual poetry from across several different millennia. A radiant and lyric score, inspired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s devoted partnership, brings to life the story of one of the greatest marriages in history whilst reflecting on the tender themes of love and loss.'
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1000397743483146
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=303306353673030
https://www.brittensinfonia.com/event/sheen-dew-flowers/
Pre-concert talk with Classic FM’s Anne-Marie Minhall
Anne-Marie Minhall interviews Joby Talbot, Natalie Murray Beale and
curator at Historic Royal Palaces Matthew Storey about the music.
Natalie Murray Beale