by Elisenda Fábregas, Artistic Director as published in the IAWM Journal, October 1995, pp. 30.
The New York Concert
The Mostly Women Composers Festival took place at the Bloomingdale House of Music in New York City on May 19 and 20, 1995. The two-day Festival included master classes, pre-concert presentations, forums, and performances of music written since 1984. Thanks to a grant from Meet the Composer, composers Jessica Krash, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Mary Jean Van Appledorn and Timothy Kramer participated, speaking in forums, discussing their work, and giving master classes to Bloomingdale students. The themes of the two open forums dealt respectively with the following issues: Why have there not been 'great' women composers? and Why introduce women's music in the school curriculum? These questions created a lively discussion among the composers themselves and the audience. At some point, we were talking about past experiences and difficulties encountered in being a female composer, and when one of the members of the audience asked us how could we possibly keep composing in spite of all the difficulties, we all unanimously agreed that we were doing what we love, composing music, and (ideally at least) don't think about the difficulties. The wonderful informative poster published by Hildegard Publishing Company with the names of notable women composers throughout the ages was shown to the audience, who reacted with surprise at the sight of so many past and present women composers.
The Festival began on Friday evening, May 19, with Jessica Krash (from Washington D.C.) and Timothy Kramer (from Trinity University at San Antonio) in the open forums and presentations. Compositions featured in the concert included the New York premiere of Bruce Stark's Romance for viola and piano (1993) performed by Rozanna Weinberger, viola and Eric Gotlieb Vázquez, piano; the New York premiere of Jessica Krash's Duo for Dizi and Shakuhashi performed by Chen Tau (professor of Dizi at the Conservatory in Beijing, China until last year) and James Schlefer, shakuhashi; the New York premiere of Timothy Kramer's Colors of a Changing Sky (1994), a work commissioned by the 1994 San Antonio International Keyboard Competition in San Antonio, performed by pianist Evelyne Luest; and the New York premiere of Elisenda Fábregas Sonata No. 2 (1995) for Violin and Piano performed by Benjamin Breen, violin with the composer at the piano. Due to an unforeseen happenstance, Thea Musgrave's piece, Pierrot, was replaced at the last minute by Elisenda Fábregas's Sonata No. 1 (1994) for violin and piano, performed by Benjamin Breen, violin, and the composer at the piano.
On Saturday, May 20, the open forum featured composers Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy and Mary Jean Van Appledorn. The evening's concert included the New York premiere of Mary Jean Van Appledorn's Four Duos for cello and viola (1986), Winifred Hyson's New York premiere of First Singing Magic (1984) performed by the Eberli Ensemble and guest viola Ralph Farris and guest soprano Susan Montgomery, Jing Jing Luo's piano piece Mosquito (1992) performed by pianist Evelyne Luest; Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy's Windrider/Final Ascent performed by Elizabeth Brown, flute and Evelyne Luest, piano; and Aaron Kernis' Still Movement with Hymn (1993) performed by the Eberli Ensemble and guest viola Ralph Farris.
The participation of composers in the festival was beneficial not only to the audience but to the composers themselves. Composer Jessica Krash said "I had a wonderful time from beginning to end. I enjoyed preparing for the talks-reading up on women's music history and women's aesthetics, and also re-thinking my own education and artistic development in terms of gender issues." An important objective of the festival is to have high quality performances of high quality works. "In my estimation," participating composer Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy wrote, "the combination of dedicated, superlative performers and composers' works of exceptional quality-both structurally and aesthetically-made the festival an outstanding example of how such musical showcases can achieve the highest standards possible." She added " ... there was, as well, a congeniality and intercommunication among participants that made for memorable contacts." In fact, as a result of the Festival, one of last year's participant, Elaine Lebenbom, received a commission from conductor Harold Rosenbaum; her choral piece was recorded on the Canticum Novum Singer's new CD.
The San Antonio Concert at the McNay Art Museum
On June 4, 1995, an additional concert presenting selections of the Mostly Women Composers Festival, in collaboration with the performing group Musicopia, was held at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX. The works selected were Kathryn Mishell's Scherzo for Three Hands (1992), performed by Pauline Glickman and Elisenda Fábregas at the piano; Victoria Bond's Notes on the Underground (1985), performed by saxophonist Morgan King and pianist Pauline Glickman; Edie Hill's Icarian Songs (1990) performed by oboist Dianne Byberg and pianist Elisenda Fábregas; Chen Yi's The Points (1991) performed by pipa player Wu Chang-lu; Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy's Windrider/Final Ascent (1993), performed by flutist Martha Fabrique and pianist Elisenda Fábregas; Gwyneth Walker's Three American Portraits (1988) for string quartet performed by members of the San Antonio Symphony; Cheng Peng-hsin's Dance Suite (1993), performed by members of the San Antonio Symphony; and Elisenda Fábregas's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano (1995) performed by San Antonio Symphony violinist Paul Manaster with the composer at the piano. The McNay Art Museum is a lovely setting for concerts and drew a substantial audience of about 200 people.
This coming year, the Mostly Women Composers Festival will have an additional concert on March 3, 1996 at The University of Texas at San Antonio during Women's History Month. Several composers will be invited to participate in open forums and pre-concert presentations.