Faculty Piano Recital Sat Night Kicks Off “Celebrating Women In Music” Series

    The Chadron State College Music department has made female composers and performers the focus of its presentations this year, calling the series Celebrating Women in Music.

     The first event is tonight at 7:00 in the Mari Sandoz Chicoine Atrium, a program of piano music written by female composers and performed by CSC Accompanist Bobby Pace as a faculty recital. 

       The first is by Amy Beach, who died in 1944 at age 77 and published prolifically under her married name of Mrs H-H-A Beach. 

      The second is by Lili Boulanger of France, who was only 26 when she died in 1918 but had already won the Prix de Rome.

      Contemporary American Joan Tower is the third composer being recognized by Pace tonight with another American, Louise Talma, the fourth. Talma was the first woman awarded consecutive Guggenheim Fellowships. She died in 1996 at age 90.

       CSC Professor of Music Dr Brooks Hafey says Celebrating Women in Music is a unifying initiative recognizing the often-neglected contributions of women in music. 

      He says the department hopes the campus and community turn out for the various events, many with guest artists sharing their talents, wisdom, and artistry.

     Performances in the series after tonight include a concert by the Trans-Nebraska Players Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. in the Chicoine Atrium. The quintet’s program will include Haunted Houses of the Vieux Carre by Maria Newman (b. 1962), Randy Newman’s first cousin. Each movement was inspired by a haunted house in the New Orleans French Quarter.

The CSC Wind Symphony and Community Band will perform Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Hall Auditorium. The female composers featured include Julie Giroux (b. 1961) and Anne McGinty (b. 1945).

Dr Hafey is giving a faculty recital Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Chicoine Atrium will include the work of eight female composers.

The first three are Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729), a well-known French harpsichordist, Italian Anna Bon di Venezia (1738-1769), and German native Fanny Hensel (1805-1847), who published under the name of her brother, Felix.

Next will be German Clara Schumann (1819-1896), the daughter of musical parents and wife of Robert Schumann, followed by Russian-born Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-1974), who lived in Canada and toured as a virtuoso pianist and violinist before dedicating herself to composition.

The sixth composer to be featured is Russian Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931), an established international composer of the second half of 20th century whose music is associated with human transcendence and mystical spiritualism, in contrast with other music of the period which often made a political statement.

The recital will conclude with compositions by two African-American composers Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) and Florence Price (1887-1953), the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer.

On Nov. 14 at 3 p-m, the CSC Concert Choir and Community Choir will perform at the Chadron Arts Center. 

The Community Choir program will include How to Sing Like a Planet by Elizabeth Alexander (b. 1962), an American composer, best known for more than 80 choral pieces. The Concert Choir program will include Ilus Hääl by Latvian composer and singer Laura Jekabsone (b. 1985).

On Dec.7 at 7 p.m., the CSC Concert Choir, Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz will perform in the Memorial Hall Auditorium.

They will play numbers by African American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Mary Lou Williams (b. 1910-1981), and Sharon Broadley-Martin, associate professor of Contemporary Writing and Production at Berklee College of Music.

The fall semester concludes with the Holiday Concert Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Hall Auditorium and the Guitar Student Showcase Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Chicoine Atrium.

Additional performances highlighting female composers and guest artists will be scheduled for Spring 2022.