Fall Concert: She Sang the Stars

A program with music that celebrate the dynamic journey of womanhood

Cynthia Powell, Artistic Director and Conductor with Janet Sora Chung, piano and organ, Allison Sniffin, piano; Laura Albers and Audrey Hayes, violins; Cameren Anai Williams, viola; Jules Biber, cello; and Eleonore Oppenheim, bass.

Program:

Hildegard von Bingen, O Viridissima Virga
Sarah Quartel, She Sang the Stars (New York premiere)
Ethel Smyth, Quintet in E Major, Op. 1, mvt 1
Kim André Arnesen, Magnificat

Sarah Quartel's She Sang the Stars is based on excerpts from the epic Finnish poem "The Kalevala." The piece tells the stories of womanhood in different phases of life through three women from the Kalevala poem. The five movements of the piece are: Start Off Singing; Water-Mother; She Ran; Stealing Fire; Song of the Stars.

The scherzo movement from Ethel Smyth's "Quintett in E Major, Op. 1" will be played by some of NYC's finest string players. Smyth's rarely-heard work is sure to be an audience delight. Interestingly, Ethel Smyth dedicated her work to the memory of Rhoda Garrett (1841-1882), a British suffragette and apparent love interest of Ethel Smyth, also an active suffragette, whose "March of the Women" became an anthem for the movement. Women were given the right to vote in England in 1918 and, with the passage of the 19th amendment, in the U.S. in 1920. This, however, only pertained to white women. It took another 45 years, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, for all women to have that right in the U.S.

Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen's setting of the Magnificat was conceived as a prayer for the sick and the poor, out of hope for those who struggle, and as a musical reflection of Mary. Described by Gramophone magazine as a genuine masterpiece, this epic work glows with soaring, beautifully melodic lines. Magnificat is performed with piano, organ, string quartet and bass.

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