“In Praise of Women” – 15 Years on the air
April 6, 2018 5 Comments
Painting from Hasht – Behesht palace, Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1669
When I began my Classical Discoveries program almost 21 years ago, I made the commitment to include music by women composers on my programs whenever it was possible.
Other than Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schuman and a few other 20th century composers aired often as a token, or during International Women’s Day on March 8th you rarely could hear their works on the airwaves. Fortunately, some Internet venues currently offer a better choice.
I will not get now into the subject of missing women composers from the repertoire of orchestras, since a number of very good articles/blogs have tackled this issue.
This year it is good to hear that many organizations are committing to improve this unfair balance, but will they keep their promise after Women’s History Month passes?
Time will tell.
Since many recordings featuring women composers were available on the market in 2004, I decided to devote my entire programming in March to women, in addition to continue including some examples of their works on each program other than those in March.
It is hard to believe that this year I celebrated my 15th Anniversary of In Praise of Woman on the air and presented a program in 5 parts, totaling 26 hours, which included 127 composers (see the list below).
As always, each special posting included works of women artists whom I would like to take this opportunity to thank for allowing me to use their wonderful images.
It is also hard to believe that this year marked the first time that I was accused of being a sexist. I was harassed every week on the day of each broadcast by one specific Facebook member. I will spare you the other insults directed to me as well as to various women composers and yes, he joined my list of trolls, and obnoxious personalities.
As always, I am exited to be able to present this Classical Discoveries program on WPRB 103.3fm to listeners each week and looking forward to next year.
If you missed broadcast, the MP3 file will be available till 4/18/2018 at: http://www.classicaldiscoveries.org/index_in_praise_of_woman_2018_temporary_file.html
The list of composers included in 2018 In Praise of Woman
Fire in the Hills by Lesley Mitchell (d. 2017)
Katy Abbott
Raphaella Aleotti **
Beth Anderson
Lera Auerbach
Maya Badian
Sally Beamish
Eve Beglarian
Antonia Bembo **
Lauren Bernofsky
Hildegard von Bingen **
Olga Bochihina
Sylvie Bodorova
Anna Bon **
Alla Borzova
Jennifer Castellano
Daffodills in Vase by Denise Ann Saldutti Egielski
Blanca de Castilla **
Lubica Cekovska
Nicole Chamberlain
Aleksandra Chmielewski
Anna Clyne
Jane Antonia Cornish
Gloria Coates
Claire Cowan
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani **
Zulema De la Cruz
Rachel Currea
Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre **
Elisabetta De’Mirkovich
Camilla de Rossi **
Claire Delbos
Jeanne Demessieux
Emma Lou Diemer
- Rest by Polish artist Iwona Altmayer
Johanna Doderer
Suor Leonora d’Este **
Ewa Fabianska-Jelinska
Carlotta Ferrari
Vivian Fine
Tania Gabrielle French
Vivian Fung
Nancy Galbraith
Alice Gomez
Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee
Ida Gotkovsky
Lee Gowoon
Galina Grigorjeva
Juliana Hall
- In the Nursery by Dr. Laurie Sucher-Gaster (1942-2009)
Barbara Harbach
Amanda Harberg
Jennifer Higdon
Leonie Holmes
Gao Hong
Katherine Hoover
Anna Maria Huszcza
Juste Janulyte
Eleni Karaindrou
Anna Ignatowicz
Lydia Kakabadse
Gaby Kapps
Dorothy Lawson
Jane Leslie
Isabella Leonarda **
Zara Levina
Clare Loveday
Ljubica Maric
- Waiting by Azerbaijani Artist Sabina Suleymanova at: AZgallery.org
Missy Mazzoli
Sky Macklay
Ann McGinty
Joanne Metcalf
Lisa Miles
Lee Pui Ming
Jocelyn Morlock
Nora Morrow
Jessie Montgomery
Martha Mooke
Beata Moon
Grainne Mulvey
Tamar Muskal
Gabriela Ortiz
Roxanna Panufnik
Victoria Poleva
Florence Price
Holdenhurst Avenue in the Snow by English Artist: Margaret Erber
Shulamit Ran
Santa Ratniece
Gitty Razaz
Mona Lyn Reese
Andrea L. Reinkemeyer
Justina Repeckaite
Belinda Reynolds
Marga Richter
Betty Roe
Elena Ruehr
Diloram Saidaminova
Alex Shapiro
Caroline Shaw
Jeanne E. Shaffer
Marilyn Shrude
- With White Gloves On Out of the Dream in Which They Are Still Al by Anne Canfield
Arlene Sierra
Maria Huld Markan Sigfusdottir
Dina Smorgonsky
Cristina Spinei
Sarah E. Stanton
Barbara Strozzi **
Agnieszka Stulginska
Andrea Tarrodi
Ylva Skog
Christine Southworth
Caroline Szeto
Gevheri Sultan
Yoko Suzuki
Dobrinka Tabakova
Andrea Tarrodi
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Snowdrops by Afat Akhundzade at: AZgallery.org
Joan Tower
Nancy Van de Vate
Mariliis Valkonen
Anne Vanschothorst
Kate Waring
Kate Whitley
Barbara White
Amy Williams
Shara Worden
Rain Worthington
Sinta Wuller
Susanna K. Wallumrød
Judith Lang Zaimont
Gaziza Zhubanova
Ellen Zwilich
Ming-Hsiu Yen
Lyn Lyndall – Collage of wild life and domestic animal miniature 4×4 paintings – http://www.lionfirestudio.com/
To celebrate Women’s History Month, MP3 files from Nov. 27, 2017 broadcast of Treasures of Early Music – Women Composers Edition were available for listening for limited time. The 5.5 hour long program included 39 works by 28 women composers before 1750.
Links to some interesting websites
International Alliance for Women in Music
Hildegard Publishing Company – Founded in 1988 by Sylvia Glickman to promote & preserve the music of women composers of the past and present
The Kapralova Society – Dedicated to promoting women in music
New York Women Composers
DIANA AMBACHE on WOMEN COMPOSERS
Wikipedia List of female composers
WOMEN’S HISTORY & IMPACT ON THE WORLD
The Living Composers Project
American Music Center
Women Composers Database – by Rob Deemer
10 Black Women Composers to Discover – by Jordannah Elizabeth
About marvinrosen
MarvinTheCat 
Marvin you are just amazing. Your support and advocacy have made such a difference for so many contemporary composers, myself being one. I am ever so grateful for your Classical Discoveries programs and your terrific interviews with individual composers. It was great fun being able to have a animations created (by Sabrina Pena Young) for the interview session we did together at the WPRB studios. https://youtu.be/ZFNs8mlVsbM Thank you, thank you for the privilege of being a guest on your show! Rain
Thank you, Rain!
P.S. Loved listening to the video of your performance of The Earth Prelude.
Hi Marvin, Your Classical Discovery programs and your attention to women composers is very much appreciated! Here’s wishing you many more years of doing what you do so well!
Julie Mandel
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