Erik Peterson,
Artistic Director
Welcome to Front Range Chamber Players’ 34th season! It has been my great pleasure to be the Artistic Director for the past 7 years and I so look forward to this next season of great chamber music. It’s hard to believe that FRCP has presented hundreds of works during the course of 33 years and not surprisingly most of these pieces were written by men. My experience in programming works by women is not atypical. I realize now that I have only programed about one work by a woman composer every other year. Clearly, this is not a good reason to pat myself on the back for a job well done.
What has been the place of the woman composer in our musical world? As an example consider Rebecca Clarke, a wonderful composer. She wrote works under her own name and also under the pseudonym of “Anthony Trent”. One hundred years ago, in a 1918 program featuring a work by Clarke and “Trent”, in which Clarke was performing, reviewers praised the “Trent” work while largely ignoring the work credited to Clarke. In 1919 Clarke’s viola sonata tied for first place in a composition competition with a work of Ernest Bloch, but Bloch was later declared the winner. Reporters speculated that "Rebecca Clarke" may be a pseudonym for Bloch himself, or at least that it could not have been Clarke who wrote these pieces, as the idea that a woman could write such a work was socially inconceivable. It appears that in 1919 the world was not yet ready to accept women composers on an equal footing with men.
How far has societies’ acceptance of the woman composer come in the past 100 years? In my view, not very far. Today, women are composing and teaching composition in relatively high numbers. However, the performances of their contemporary works remain limited and performances of past women composers is deep in the shadows of their male contemporaries. It has been estimated that only 15% of composition faculty in university music departments is made up by women.
I would like for you to join me, and the Front Range Chamber Players Board, as we celebrate great works by women composers this season. We will feature works by 18th century Venetian composer Maddalena Sirmen and contemporary composers Maria Newman, Jenni Brandon, Ingrid Stölzel, Ann Park-Rose, Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Jessie Montgomery, and Maria Grenfell. Please consider making a gift, or increasing your gif, to Front Range Chamber Players. Your donation will allow us to continue to showcase top-notch performers, beloved masterworks, and adventuresome programming. Together let’s give women’s compositions a chance to shine and inspire a new attitude of equality towards composers. Please help FRCP take the lead in putting women composers on the map. I appreciate your support in this endeavor and for your support of all the great music.
Join our email list!
What has been the place of the woman composer in our musical world? As an example consider Rebecca Clarke, a wonderful composer. She wrote works under her own name and also under the pseudonym of “Anthony Trent”. One hundred years ago, in a 1918 program featuring a work by Clarke and “Trent”, in which Clarke was performing, reviewers praised the “Trent” work while largely ignoring the work credited to Clarke. In 1919 Clarke’s viola sonata tied for first place in a composition competition with a work of Ernest Bloch, but Bloch was later declared the winner. Reporters speculated that "Rebecca Clarke" may be a pseudonym for Bloch himself, or at least that it could not have been Clarke who wrote these pieces, as the idea that a woman could write such a work was socially inconceivable. It appears that in 1919 the world was not yet ready to accept women composers on an equal footing with men.
How far has societies’ acceptance of the woman composer come in the past 100 years? In my view, not very far. Today, women are composing and teaching composition in relatively high numbers. However, the performances of their contemporary works remain limited and performances of past women composers is deep in the shadows of their male contemporaries. It has been estimated that only 15% of composition faculty in university music departments is made up by women.
I would like for you to join me, and the Front Range Chamber Players Board, as we celebrate great works by women composers this season. We will feature works by 18th century Venetian composer Maddalena Sirmen and contemporary composers Maria Newman, Jenni Brandon, Ingrid Stölzel, Ann Park-Rose, Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Jessie Montgomery, and Maria Grenfell. Please consider making a gift, or increasing your gif, to Front Range Chamber Players. Your donation will allow us to continue to showcase top-notch performers, beloved masterworks, and adventuresome programming. Together let’s give women’s compositions a chance to shine and inspire a new attitude of equality towards composers. Please help FRCP take the lead in putting women composers on the map. I appreciate your support in this endeavor and for your support of all the great music.
Join our email list!
