< PreviousJOURNAL OF THE IAWM16 On the subject of class distinction, the philosophers Plato and Aristotle alluded to there being two types of female musicians: respectable (i.e., domestic musicians) and shameful (i.e., available for hire at symposia). Recent scholarly opinion, however, is divided. Some maintain that these assertions are incorrect. 5 Plato snubbed the flute girls not because of their alluring ways but because they stopped the flow of scholarly discus- sions on poetry: “Where the party consists of thorough gentlemen who have had a proper education, you will see neither flute-girls nor dancing-girls nor harp-girls, but only the company contenting themselves with their own conversation, and none of these fool- eries and frolics.” 6 Aristotle suggests that the aulos should be banned from 5Roger Harmon, “Plato, Aristotle and Women Musicians,” Music and Letters 86/3 (August 2005): 351-6. 6Plato in Twelve Volumes, vol. 3, Protagoras, translated by W.R.M. Lamb (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967), section 347d. the classroom because of its negative associations and because it impedes intellectual discussion. 7 The status of flute girls was far more complex than that of hetairai. The fact that they were slaves, and conse- quently of very low status and without any rights, meant it highly likely that they were vulnerable to sexual approaches. Their skill set in music and culture, coupled with the fact that they also played for women (as suggested by vase-paintings in 510 BCE), cast doubt on their status as entertainers for men. Furthermore, some artefacts show the flute girls more modestly dressed—rather than in provocative clothing—and their audience listening to them rather than looking at them. Kenneth Dover, a modern scholar of Greek prose, remarks that “it would be unfair to say” that the flute girls “were necessarily prostitutes, although 7Aristotle, Politics Book 8.6, section 1341, trans- lated by H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1944). they could be prostituted.” 8 Other recent scholarship, however, has over- played the overtly sexual nature of the flute girls, making the word aulêtris synonymous with prostitute. Highly educated females, who made their mark as poets and musicians in Ancient Greece did not come from Athens, where women’s lives were more restricted than other parts of mainland Greece and the islands. Sappho (born around 630 BCE on the island of Lesbos) was famous for her lyric poetry, which was intended to be sung to musical accompani- ment. Her poetry makes reference to the playing of a lyre and harp, and she is depicted on a vase painting holding a barbitos (lyre), which sug- gests that she accompanied herself whilst singing her own poems. In addi- tion to composing lyric monodies, she also wrote choral works—none of which were notated—performed by separate groups of dancing men and women. Her innovative verse form, which became known as the “Sapphic stanza,” was later developed by Greek and Roman poets, who held her in very high esteem. Another female musician and poet, whose songs have often been compared to Sappho’s, was Praxilla (born in Sicyon) who flourished around 450 BCE. She wrote drinking songs, dithyrambs, and hymns. Her poems were considered on a par with the great lyric poets, Alcaeus (Sapho’s contemporary) and Anacreon (also noted for writing drinking songs). As the Classical era gave way to the cultural Hellenistic age, education became more accessible to women and society’s perception of female musicians began to change. There was now an important distinction between the flute girls/hetairai and those female musicians who studied under reputable music teachers and were paid to perform at concerts, festivals, and other communal events. Music competitions and music fes- tivals, already in existence in earlier times, now became very common. According to a second century BCE 8Kenneth Dover, Aristophanes: Clouds (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968), 220. Aulos player (in the Louvre)17VOLUME 28, NO. 1 • 2022 inscription from Delphi, Polygnota of Thebes received much praise and a crown to the value of 500 drachmas for her performance on the kithara and recitations during the Pythian Games. Polygnota studied both the kithara and the harp in order to realize her ambi- tion as a professional musician. In her influential essay on the education of women in the Hellenistic period, Sarah B Pomeroy examines the achieve- ment of Polygnota at Delphi: “she must have been a respectable artist, Greek siren with a kithara, fourth century BCE The kithara, a type of lyre used by professional musicians that required a considerable amount of skill, represented the higher class and was associated with the restrained character of Greek music. —LYDIA KAKABADSE Music Festivals and Conferences Music by Women Festival March 3-5, 2022 Mississippi, U.S. www.muw.edu/musicbywomen Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference March 30-April 2, 2022 Michigan, U.S. www.seamusonline.org International Composers Festival May 20-22, 2022 East Sussex, UK www.composersfestival.com IAWM’s 2022 Conference June 2-4, 2022 Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon www.iawm.org/2022conference/ National Women’s Music Festival June 30-July 3, 2022 Wisconsin, U.S. www.nwmf.info/festival-info/ International Musicological Society Quinquennial Congress August 22-26, 2022 Athens, Greece www.pcoconvin.eventsair.com/ims22/ International Society of Contemporary Composers August 23-30, 2022 Auckland and Christchurch New Zealand www.iscm.org/wnmd/2022-new-zealand/ not a harp-girl of the sort mentioned by Plato in the Protagoras and found often in New Comedy….” 9 This was an age from which Polygnota emerged as an emancipated woman to pursue a career as a musician, free from the social shackles of previous eras and where the role of a respectable female musician received a new definition. 9Sarah B. Pomeroy, “Technikai kai Musikai: The Education of Women in the Fourth Century and in the Hellenistic Period,” American Journal of Ancient History 2/1 (1977): 51-68. Lydia Kakabadse, a British composer of choral, vocal and chamber works, studied music at Royal Holloway University of London. Her works have been released on CD under the Naxos and Divine Art record labels and have been widely performed, commissioned, and broadcast as well as included in music festivals both in the UK and abroad. Greatly inspired by medieval music, she has written original texts in Latin for her vocal works. She also holds a master’s degree in law (distinction) and, in the past, worked as a solicitor (lawyer) to fund her many music projects.JOURNAL OF THE IAWM18 REVIEWS AND PUBLICATIONS COMPACT DISC REVIEWS Juliana Hall: Bold Beauty Molly Fillmore, soprano; Elvia Puccinelli, piano. Blue Griffin, BGR559 (2021) STEFANIA DE KENESSEY Composer Juliana Hall (b. 1958) has risen steadily in the last decades as one of our foremost proponents and practitioners of the art song. Her output is astonishing, not only for its variety and sheer quantity (with more than sixty song cycles and monodramas to her credit), but more importantly, for its inventiveness and grace. Her sensitivity to text is superb, and her loving treatment of the human voice has made her justly renowned among singers world- wide. The latest CD to showcase Hall’s creativity is Bold Beauty with four different song cycles for voice and piano. The collection demon- strates the breadth of the composer’s range and gives us a glimpse into her artistic trajectory. The disc opens with eight Letters from Edna St. Vincent Millay (1993), about which I must issue a brief warning: the pedestrian song titles of this set are entirely misleading. As the composer remarks, “Millay’s letters are almost poetry themselves; they paint such vivid pictures… of her relationships with people (both famous and not) and of her emotions.” 1 Hall captures this range beautifully, moving from the sweetly triadic, deeply poetic ending of the first letter: “To Mr. Ficke and Mr. Brynner” (“Then let my mes- sage like an arrow dart/And pierce a way into the world’s great heart”) to the gentle, dissonance-inflected, humorous opening of the seventh letter: “To Arthur Davison Ficke” (“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another”). The cycle Syllables of Velvet, Sentences of Plush (1989), next on the CD, rep- resents Hall’s first interest in setting letters rather than poems; this time, she turns to Emily Dickinson’s letters, which are witty and charming and “are as lyrically inspired as her poetry, with as much musicality within them as any composer could ask for, making them perfect subjects for musical expres- sion.” 2 The musical renderings are generally lyrical, measured in pace, sparsely textured, and almost white in color (like Dickinson’s distinctive dress) but tinged with a mild dissonance that hints at inner turbulence. The penulti- mate sixth song, addressed to Susan Gilbert Dickinson and beginning with “I wept a tear here,” is particularly moving in its melancholy simplicity. Theme in Yellow (1990) returns to more traditional territory with an eclectic grouping of poems. Carl Sandburg holds the place of honor, with four poems, while Amy Lowell and Edna St. Vincent Millay are each represented 1Liner notes for J. Hall, Bold Beauty, Blue Griffin BGR55, 2021, CD [7]. 2Ibid [5]. by one. Here, the central theme is autumn, seen from diverse perspec- tives, and the musical realizations are pitch-perfect. Sandburg’s utterances are agitated, unpredictable, and rest- less and are mirrored in both the vocal and piano parts. Lowell’s November darkness penetrates through the sing- er’s low, sustained, almost vibrato-free tones; and Millay’s lament for the past is breathtaking in its aching beauty. The disc concludes with Cameos, six songs that reflect contemporary concerns about gender equity, and inclusion. The texts are provided by the mezzo-soprano on this recording, the doubly-gifted Molly Fillmore, who explains: “The idea for this cycle came while watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow. One of the pieces analyzed was a painting by a female American artist from the early 20th century… I wondered how many female artists we should know about, and do not, because their work was not created by a man. This inspired me.” 3 The songs celebrate a group of women artists who are not household names but 3Ibid [10]. Recent CD Release Red Dragonfly: Trombone music by women composers Jemmie Robertson, Assistant Professor of Trombone, University of Florida, released his fourth solo album, Red Dragonfly, this winter in both CD and digital download formats. Robertson collaborated with pianist Jasmin Arakawa on the recording, which showcases trombone-music by women composers: Amy Beach, Amy Mills, Florence Price, Barbara York, Saskia Apon, and Sonya Leonore Stahl. The album also includes an arrangement of O vis eternitatis by Hildegard von Bingen featuring trumpet player Randolph Lee. To purchase, see www.markcustom.com. Bold Beauty The collection demonstrates the breadth of the composer’s range and gives us a glimpse into her artistic trajectory. —STEFANIA DE KENESSEY19VOLUME 28, NO. 1 • 2022 whose work clearly deserves deeper scrutiny: Sarah Albritton (b. 1936), an African-American artist growing up in small-town Louisiana; Kay WalkingStick (b. 1935), a Native American landscape artist from the Southwest; Nellie Mae Rowe (b. 1900), an African-American artist working in Georgia; Alice Dutton Brown (b. 1939), from upstate New York; Agnes Lawrence Pelton (b. 1881), who specialized in paintings of Pueblo Native Americans; and Corita Kent (b. 1918), a former religious sister dedicated to social justice. Hall’s song cycle is loosely modeled on Poulenc’s Le travail du peintre (with lyrics by Paul Éluard), which offers musical portraits Juliana Hall: “Silly Sallie” in Beneath the Sky Zoe Allen, soprano; Christopher Allen, piano. Shokat Projects, SP-101 (2021) STEFANIA DE KENESSEY Hall’s music can also be heard on Beneath the Sky, a CD offering eighteen dif- ferent songs grouped by the theme of mothering and childhood by fourteen different composers. These range from Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Charles Ives to more contemporary figures such as Nico Muhly, Eric Whitacre, Ricky Ian Gordon, Maury Yeston, Steven Lutvak, and Morten Lauridsen. Women are represented on the disc with offerings by Florence Price, Missy Mazzoli, Georgia Stitt, and Juliana Hall. “Silly Sallie” is excerpted from Hall’s cycle Songs of Enchantment, a relatively early work, dating from 1989. It is a setting of ten poems by Walter de la Mare. In this miniature song, lasting just one minute, Hall displays her considerable comic gifts, including a humorous piano postlude. The exemplary performances are by the husband-and-wife team of Zoe Allen, soprano, and Christopher Allen, piano. Her voice is limpid and clear, with enormous agility and flexibility, and her diction is flawless. The piano accompaniment is sensitive, nuanced, and invariably intelligent. The recording is issued by Shokat Projects, founded by Zoe Allen to support the commissioning of interdisciplinary artistic visual and performance projects. 4 If there is one small quibble with the disc, it is that the printed booklet is only four pages long, double-sided, and crammed to the brim with information and with poems that are transcribed with dashes, losing their original form. But this minor reservation aside, undoubtedly the result of financial pressures, Beneath the Sky is an important contribution to the art song repertoire and provides a powerful, insightful testament to the continued importance of the genre. 4Liner notes for Beneath the Sky, Shokat Projects, SP-101 (2021), [3]. of Picasso, Chagall, Braque, Gris, Klee, Miró, and Villon. Hall’s interpretation gives ample voice to each woman artist. The music is sometimes jazzy, some- times humorous, sometimes complex, sometimes unabashedly simple, but always, always sensitive to the text, to the subtext, and to the voice. The performers on this disc are gifted and multi-talented. They imbue the entire recording with joy, life, and vibrancy. Singer Molly Fillmore, who provided both the idea and the poetry for Cameos, has an astounding vocal range. She sang both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles in prestigious houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, among others. Her diction is superb and her legato is flawless, and she conveys a full range of emotions, from pathos to humor. Likewise, pianist Elvia Puccinelli is a first-rate keyboard player. Since Hall’s songs often feature preludes and postludes prominently, she has her work cut out for her, but she meets the chal- lenge superbly. She is the founder and executive director of the International Keyboard Arts Society, the first such organization dedicated exclusively to collaborative pianists. Both Fillmore and Puccinelli are on the faculty at the University of North Texas in Denton, where Bold Beauty was recorded. The disc is highly recommended. Arthur J. Michaels: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Composer The book offers a wealth of advice, tips, strategies, and examples to advance one’s skill as a composer. The book includes useful insights by IAWM member Rain Worthington and a diverse, international group of 24 composers on effective ways to increase a composer’s creativity and productivity. The book is rec- ommended for both beginning and advanced composers. Paperback and kindle editions are available on Amazon. Stefania de Kenessey is a composer working in a wide variety of genres and venues. Her radical oper- atic reimagining of Tom Wolfe’s classic novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (www.bonfiretheopera.com) updated the story of greed and corruption to the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange. She is Professor of Music at the New School and has served as the Dean of Eugene Lang College, undergrad- uate division, and Chair of the MA program in Liberal Studies at the graduate level. She is the founding president of the IAWM. www.stefaniadekenessey.comJOURNAL OF THE IAWM20 CONCERT REVIEW Viktoria Kaunzner’s “Musical Journey: Mediterranean Sea, BlackSeaandPacificOcean” CARLES GUAITA SERRANO German violinist and composer Viktoria Kaunzner performed a varied concert with the string orchestra and smaller ensembles of the Conservatory of Valencia, Spain, on November 29, 2021. The following review of the concert includes excerpts, translated and adapted, from a review by Carles Guaita Serrano in Step Notes (with permission). 5 The concert opened with an arrange- ment for string orchestra of Giuseppe Tartini’s Sonata in G minor, “Didone Abbandonata,” op. 1, no. 10 (1731), which reflects the anguish and fate of Queen Dido. The next work, New Silk Road (2017), featuring Viktoria Kaunzner as both composer and soloist, includes three movements titled “Smagarad” (emerald), “Rubin” (ruby), and “Andalusit” (andalusite). The gemstones serve as inspiration for the musical depiction of the different regions and cultures where they are found: the East, Asia, and Europe, respectively. The first half of the concert concluded with the world premiere of Roman Fleuve (2019) by Violeta Dinescu. (The title refers to a novel about a social group over a period of time.) Dinescu wrote the piece while at the Black Sea and dedicated it to Kaunzner. It contains a series of brief movements that depict stories that range from powerful and dramatic to tender and thoughtful. Kaunzner gave a brilliant performance of the virtuosic work, which entails improvisation as well as movement and simultaneous singing and playing. The score was projected on a screen at the back of the stage, but the non-tra- ditional notation was difficult to follow. After a brief intermission, Lucía Jiménez (violin) and Enrique Subiela (flute) appeared on stage wearing carnival 5To read Serrano’s entire review in Spanish, see www.revistadigital2.csmvalencia.es/viajando- de-la-mano-de-viktoria-kaunzner-concierto- de-la-semana-de-santa-cecilia/ Publications Vilma Campitelli: Compendium Musicae Flauta ITALY: SMASHER EDITION (2018) The 636-page volume is the first major work to provide comprehensive data on the flute repertoire of music composed by women from the 16th to the 21st centuries. The book presents over 15,000 titles of works for solo flute plus piccolo, flute in G, bass flute, and contrabass flute; chamber ensem- bles with flute for up to twelve instruments; and works for flute with singers, choirs, and orchestras. Twenty-eight hundred women from five continents (100 countries) are listed. Part I provides an alphabetical list of all the composers as well as a second list organized according to nationality, and Part II includes a list of the instru- mental ensembles. Part III lists research centers, libraries, links, universities, and publishing companies. The author, Vilma Campitelli, is Professor of Flute at the University/Conservatorio “U. Giodano” in Rodi Garganico, Foggia, Italy. Ethel Smyth: Serenade in D Major for Orchestra Recent Researches in the Music of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries announces the publication of Ethel Smyth’s first orchestral work, Serenade in D Major for Orchestra, composed in 1889 (and possibly in early 1890). 1 The score was edited by John L. Snyder, Professor of Music Theory and Musicology at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. The Serenade was premiered at a Crystal Palace (London) concert on April 26, 1890. The work was received well by the audience and garnered positive notices in the press. This critical edition is based on a photocopy of the autograph manuscript, now in the Royal College of Music Library, with reference also to a fair copy of the score, now in the British Library. The extensive critical notes document the changes made by the composer, as well as editorial and performance suggestions made by both the composer and August Manns, who conducted the premiere performance. 1Full Score: ISBN 978-1-9872-0630-2 xxiv + 190 pp. $425.00 Facsimile Supplement: ISBN 978-1- 9872-0632-6 viii + 140 pp. $60.00 DOI https://doi.org/10.31022/N084 Performance materials are in preparation. masks to interpret Coffee Mask (2014) by Kaunzner, who was inspired by an acrylic painting on canvas titled Mask II by the artist Maria Trautmann. Kaunzner returned to perform the final three works on the program, accompanied by pianist Francesc Llop. Elisenda Fábregas’ Wandering Spirit (2013) was described by the composer in the liner notes as “a musical metaphor for the quest for truth, symbolized musically by moments of discovery, with longing and soaring solo lines in the violin, and moments of struggle marked by dissonant interac- tion between the violin and the piano.” The concert continued with Eliza Aria aus der Wild Swans Suite (2002) by Elena Kats-Chernin. It is an excerpt from the composer’s ballet Wild Swans, based on the tale of “The Wild Swans” by Hans Christian Andersen. The music was soft and delicate, and Kaunzner’s performance was beautiful. The final work on the program was Kaunzner’s Jasmine Rice (2012). The composer/ performer once again provided a remarkable performance. As an encore, Kaunzner and professors Carlos D. Perales (pianist) and Gregorio Jiménez (electronics) improvised together, combining the virtuosity of the violin with the processed sounds extracted from the piano through electronics. There could not have been a better climax to close an afternoon filled with wonderful music.21VOLUME 28, NO. 1 • 2022 REPORTS four indigenous women discussing their experiences, the role of music in their lives, and music as a tool for healing and reconciliation. Jean Becker (Inuk), Kelly Laurila (Sami), Beverly McKiver (Anishinaabe), and Karen Sunabacka (Metis) were engaging and inspiring in their talks about them- selves and the work they do. The panel was well-attended, with people tuning in from all over the world. The asso- ciation would like to continue to hold online panels in the future, as they provide an excellent way to learn from each other and to connect. December In early December, new member Amelia Yates gave a presentation/ concert on the solo piano music of ACWC/ACC co-founder Ann Southam. It included excerpts from performances that Yates had given as part of her doctoral studies of Southam’s work. Many of the women who attended the online event had known Southam, and it was obvious that she was much loved and admired by the ACWC/ACC members. Yate’s presentation was a fitting way to end the anniversary year, which had begun with a panel discussing the formation and early days of the organization. From This Place There was one more addition to the year’s celebrations. Three ACWC/ACC members from Vancouver Island— Leila Lustig, Christie Morrison, and Diane Berry—each created a video cel- ebrating a local place of importance to them. Collectively known as From This Place, each of these videos include film as well as photos from those locations in addition to the musical tributes. More videos will be released in the spring, a late edition to the celebrations. Summary During 2021, in celebration of their 40th anniversary, the ACWC/ACC created 12 playlists, 11 history notes, three online panels, five online concerts, one presentation/concert, and three videos. Despite the Covid challenges, it truly was a celebratory year. All of these events are still available on the ACWC/ACC anniversary page (www.acwc.ca/2020/06/03/acwc-40th- anniversary/). The association is now looking forward to building on some of the things that we learned over the past year, particularly the use of the internet to help connect us and share the various things we are each doing. Join us on our very active Facebook page: Association of Canadian Women Composers (ACWC/ACC)or follow us on Twitter @ACWComposers 2. Report from Canada DIANE BERRY The Association of Canadian Women Composers/L’Association Compositrices Canadiennes (ACWC/ACC) finished their 40th anniversary year with a streamed concert, an online panel, a presentation/concert, and the release of three music videos. October In early October 2021, a concert in Toronto that had originally been planned for 2020, and had been delayed several times, finally took place. For the “Building Up” concert, ACWC/ACC collaborated with the Canadian Music Centre and featured the music of ACWC/ACC composers Catherine Bevan, Rebekah Cummings, Sophie Dupuis, Heather Hindman, and Cleo Palacio-Quintin, as well as Monique Jean, Naomi McCarroll-Butler, and Roxanne Nesbitt. Performers Amanda Lowry (flute), Naomi McCarroll-Butler (bass clarinet/ alto saxophone), Yang Chen (percussion), and Cecilia Lee and Stephanie Orlando (piano) presented a wonderful virtual concert celebrating women and gender non-conforming composers and performers, and they demonstrated how they support each other through their creative practices. November In early November, the third panel of the year was held. Entitled “Indigenous Song — Healing, Reconciliation, Partnership,” the panel consisted of Piano Music by Women Composers Alissa Freeman, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, has launched an amazing website that offers resources for performing piano music composed by European women in the late 1700s. She calls the site ||:Her Classical:|| (www.herclassical.com) The website, she writes, “seeks to promote music written by 18th-century women composers by compiling and producing recordings, editions, and teaching resources. Very few pieces by women composers from this era are included in modern pedagog- ical compilations, though these pieces are wonderful additions to the student repertoire. By high- lighting these pieces and creating new, more accessible editions, the ||:HerClassical:|| project opens the doors for pianists and teachers to explore this music.” Works by Maria Hester Park, Jane Savage, Sophia Maria Westenholz, Elizabetta de Gambarini, and Marianne Auenbrugger are available now. The pieces are categorized by level—Early Intermediate, Late Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced. Visitors to the site are invited to sign up for email updates.JOURNAL OF THE IAWM22 The Kapralova Society— Year in Review: 2021 KARLA HARTLE Despite the worldwide pandemic that continued to affect the musical world in 2021, a good number of notable performances and broadcasts of Vítězslava Kaprálová’s music took place during the year. Much was happening also on the recording front, resulting in four new CD releases with music by Kaprálová, including her orchestral por- trait Waving Farewell, released in June by Naxos. At around the same time in Prague, Klic Books published Kauza Kaprálová (The Kaprálová Case), a collec- tion of correspondence and archivalia that document Kaprálová’s postmortal repatriation and shed some light on the cause of her death, which has long been misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. In November, the Society published a collection of essays entitled The Women in Music Anthology to promote the legacies of nine women musi- cians, among them Kaprálová; and the year ended in style with a Musée de l’homme exhibition in Paris, entitled Portraits de France, which celebrated 58 refugees and immigrants—29 men and 29 women, who lived and died in France—selected from the original 318 nominees for their contribu- tion to the “national narrative of the Republic of France.” Kaprálová made the final cut. Performances The year 2021 saw a number of notable live performances that also included two Wigmore Hall performances— by BBC New Generation Artist Ema Nikolovska, a Canadian who gave the UK premiere of Kaprálová’s song cycle Sung into the Distance, and by American Kirill Gerstein, who performed the composer’s April Preludes. Samantha Ege gave the UK premiere of Sonata Appassionata at the Barbican in London April Preludes received its Hungarian premiere by British pianist Sam Haywood at the Solti Hall in Budapest (he also gave a rare performance of the work at Prague’s Rudolfinum) and its Spanish premiere by Antonio Oyarzabal at the Pirineos Classics Festival. Country premieres were also given of Elegy, at the Jarna Festival in Sweden; Waving Farewell, at the Un temps pour Elles Festival in France; and Five Piano Pieces, in Switzerland. Finally, Kaprálová’s reed trio received its UK premiere at the Perth Concert Hall in Edinburgh. There were two orchestral concerts, both in Prague, of Partita, performed by Ilaybüke Algür and the NeoKlasik Orchestra, conducted by Vaclav Dlask (this concert was financially assisted by our Society) and of Military Sinfonietta, performed by the Prague State Opera Orchestra, conducted by Richard Hein. Broadcasts There were 20 radio broadcasts of Kaprálová’s music in 2021. Participating broadcasters were from Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and included six national broadcasters: the BBC, the CBC, Deutschlandfunk, ORF, RTBF (Belgium), and the Czech Radio. Just to mention a few of the most substantial programs—CBC Music produced a 68-minute doc- umentary dedicated to Kaprálová’s life and music, broadcast as part of their In Concert Revival Hour series; Vítězslava Kaprálová23VOLUME 28, NO. 1 • 2022 Ameria Radio produced and broadcast a musical portrait of the composer, I Notturni di Ameria Radio: Musiche di Vitezslava Kaprálová; the Czech Radio 3 dedicated one of its 90-minute Lunch Concerts to four orchestral works by Kaprálová: Partita, Concertino, Sinfonietta, and Piano Concerto; and Deutschlandfunk Kultur recorded and broadcast a piano recital of Steffen Schleiermacher, Die Tschechische Avantgarde in Paris, which included five works by our composer. Publications In June, Prague publisher Klic Books published Kauza Kaprálová v dobové korespondenci a dokumentech (The Kaprálová Case in Period Correspondence and Documents) with an introduction by Karla Hartl, who collected the docu- ments for the book from various public and private archives and transcribed and annotated the included correspon- dence. The book narrates the story of Kaprálová’s postmortal repatriation and sheds some light on the cause of the composer’s death. In October, The Kapralova Society released a free digital version of The Women in Music Anthology; the printed version followed in November. The book begins with two major essays on the Woman Composer Question that explain why, even today, we rarely see women included in music history textbooks, or hear their music performed by symphony orchestras or in major concert halls. The book then con- tinues with chapters that explore, in some depth, the lives and legacies of nine women musicians who made a major impact in their respective fields and communities: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, Amy Beach, Agatha Backer Grøndahl, Maude Valérie White, Florence Price, Vera Lynn, and Vítězslava Kaprálová. CD Releases There were four recording projects realized in 2021, all with outstanding results. Listed in chronological order, the Swiss label Claves Records released a CD entitled Frauenstimmen (Women’s Voices) that presented chamber music by several women composers, including Kaprálová’s Ritournelle pour violoncelle et piano, in a stunning performance by Anna Fortova and Kathrin Schmidlin. The next came La Muse Oubliée, a release of the Spanish label LBS Classical, featuring pianist Antonio Oyarzabal whose interesting pro- gram, dedicated to historical women composers, also featured Kaprálová. He gave her April Preludes a stellar performance. The third release, entitled Charmes and produced by Orchid Classics, followed with songs by Pauline Viardot, Alma Mahler, Clara Schumann, and—Kaprálová, sung by the brilliant soprano Olena Tokar. The last and most eagerly awaited CD, named after Kaprálová’s grandest song, Waving Farewell, was produced by Naxos. Released in June, this orchestral portrait of Kaprálová surpassed any previous releases of her orchestral music with remarkably fresh and energetic performances by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. All the works on the disc but one (Prélude de Noël) were composed early in Kaprálová’s career: Suite en miniature, Piano Concerto, Sinfonietta, and two orchestral songs, of which Sad Evening was recorded in a world premiere. Presto Music chose the disc for their Recording of the Year. All four discs received highly favorable reviews, attesting to the growing reputation of Kaprálová as a major composer of her generation. Women in Music Publications In 2021, we published the nineteenth volume of the Kapralova Society Journal. The winter issue offered the feature “J.L. Zaimont’s musical storytelling in Virgie Rainey,” written by Kheng K. Koay; the essay “Where has this music been all my life? On women composers in the 20th century. Featuring the life and music of Amy Beach, Vítězslava Kaprálová, and Grace Williams,” by George Henderson; and Tom Moore’s article on the life and music of Leonie Collongues. The summer issue included a feature by Erin Hackel and Karin Hauger, “Bokken Lasson: Norwegian Feminist, Artist, Entrepreneur,” and an interview of Elisabeth Blair about her trailblazer podcast Listening to Ladies. The In Review section included three book reviews of recently pub- lished monographs on Mabel Daniels, Madeleine Dring, and Johanna Kinkel. The purpose of The Women in Music Anthology published by the Kapralova Society at the end of the year, was to guarantee a prolonged life to a group of “best of” articles published in the Kapralova Society Journal over the course of sixteen years. The various essays were revised, some substan- tially, and updated for inclusion in the book. The publication is divided into two sections. The first is dedicated to historical women composers and musi- cians and begins with two introductory essays on the Woman Composer Question. The book then continues with chapters that celebrate the lives The purpose of The Women in Music Anthology published by the Kapralova Society at the end of the year, was to guarantee a prolonged life to a group of “best of” articles published in the Kapralova Society Journal over the course of sixteen years. —KARLA HARTLEJOURNAL OF THE IAWM24 and legacies of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, Amy Beach, Agatha Backer Grøndahl, Maude Valérie White, Florence Price, and Vera Lynn. One chapter also focuses on the history of all-female orchestras. The second section is dedicated to the latest research on Kaprálová. Only essays with a broader appeal have been selected for this section of the anthology, providing a historical con- text to the times in which Kaprálová lived and died and to the Czech musical culture of the period. Several chapters pertain to the intriguing task of reconstructing music from sketches and autograph fragments, with three examples of possible approaches to tackle such a task successfully. A digital version of the anthology can be down- loaded free from the Society website at www.kapralova.org/ANTHOLOGY.htm. The Music She Writes A Celebration of Asian Female Composers The concert series titled The Music She Writes highlights the diversity and significance of music by Asian female composers within the contemporary music landscape. Organized by Eastman School of Music graduate, composer Ania Vu, and pianist Eunmi Ko, the series of four virtual concerts will feature about 20 works by female com- posers across Asia, from Iran to Japan. The concerts will broadcast every other Friday at 7pm EST on April 1st, 15th, 29th, and May 13th as part of the Eastman Centennial “100 concerts to celebrate 100 years.” For more details, please visit us here: www.esm.rochester.edu/wmf/ UMKC Bands Perform Music by Women Composers CHEN YI We are pleased to report that of the 36 compositions performed in 2021 by the UMKC bands at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, half were written by women. The bands are directed by Professors Steve Davis and Joel Parisi plus young conductors in our graduate programs, including two women: Hannah Morrison and Anya Pogorelova, who conducted the world premiere of a new educational band piece, Five Elements, by UMKC’s own woman com- poser, Yunfei Li. She was awarded a commissioning grant by the UMKC Women’s Council, and her work was performed on October 21, 2021, by the Conservatory Wind Symphony. The other works by women composers on the 2021 concert programs include Jason and the Golden Fleece by Elizabeth Raum, Serenade in Seven Colors by Andrea Tarrodi, Quietly Revealed by Marilyn Shrude, Creatures of the Sun and Moon by Elizabeth Sharma, La Flor Mas Linda by Gilda Lyons, The Last Hivemind by Shuying Li, Cathedrals by Kathryn Salfelder, Musica Ignota by Ingrid Stölzel, Fascinating Ribbons by Joan Tower, Tu by Chen Yi, Transmission II by Florence Anna Maunders, and Ash by Jennifer Jolley. Jolley was composer in residence, and her March! was per- formed and recorded by the Conservatory Wind Symphony. The ensemble also recorded the works by Gilda Lyons and Shuying Li. Every summer, the UMKC Bands host the Kansas City Conducting program. Last year, June 13-17, the program featured the following works by women com- posers: Dragon Rhyme by Chen Yi, Anahita by Roshanne Etezady, Rhythm Stand by Jennifer Higdon, Ash by Jennifer Jolley, and The Oak by Florence Price. We thank our hard working and supportive colleagues, and we congratulate all the women composers as well as the musicians! We look forward to a bright future for band music by women. The Agnes Tyrrell Edition Since 2021, a small section of our website has been dedicated to the music of Agnes Tyrrell (1846–1883). A pianist and composer of Czech and English descent who lived her whole life in Brno, Kaprálová’s birthplace. Tyrrell, was one of the few women to compose a symphony prior to 1900. In 2018, her Overture in C Minor received a world premiere performance by the Orchester L’anima giusta, conducted by Jessica Horsley at the frauenkompo- niert Festival in Bern and was recorded for Swiss Radio. It has so far been the only known recording of Tyrrell’s music. The L’anima giusta performance brought Tyrrell to the attention of our Society that now also promotes her life and work. Many of Tyrrell’s autographs are held in the Moravian Museum of Brno, and last year we published two of them: Theme and Variations, op. 8, and Grand Sonata, op. 66. Both of these scores are available on request and free to the professional pianists who can assure their performance. Website In the past twenty years, the Kapralova Society website has become an important platform for promoting women’s achievements in classical music. The site not only offers an open access journal on women in music but now also offers several free e-publications and digital sheet music. Its reputation has grown over the years, and in 2021, the site was also acknowledged by the Library of Congress, which selected it for their web archives project. 25VOLUME 28, NO. 1 • 2022 AWARDS The IAWM congratulates the following award winners. Samantha Ege was the recipient of American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award as lead scholar-performer in the project Renaissance Women: Works by Women Composer-Pianists of the Black Chicago Renaissance. “The award is intended as a grant-in-aid to stimulate active cooperation between scholars and per- formers by recognizing and fostering outstanding contributions to histor- ical performing practices.” Dr. Ege’s thesis is that the Black Chicago Renaissance between the 1930s and 1950s was led by women such as Nora Douglas Holt, Helen Eugenia Hagan, Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King, and Florence B. Price. They “dis- played strong models of Black female leadership; they opened the doors for upcoming generations of Black women to thrive as composers, per- formers, music entrepreneurs, and more.” In December 2021, Dr. Ege and pianist John Paul Ekins recorded an album of forgotten piano music by women composer-pianists of the Black Chicago Renaissance as part of the project, and the album will be released in March on the LORELT label. Bonny Miller was the recipient of the American Musicological Society’s Robert Cohen / RIPM Honorable Mention award for her book, Augusta Browne: Composer and Woman of Letters in Nineteenth-Century America (University of Rochester Press, 2020). The RIPM (Retrospective Index of Periodicals in Music) is internation- ally recognized as one of the primary tools for research in music and musicology. The award honors “schol- arship of exceptional merit based upon eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century periodical litera- ture related to music.” The book was reviewed by Laura Pita in the Journal of the IAWM 27/2 (2021). Danaë Xanthe Vlasse’s new album, Mythologies, was nominated in December 2021 for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. The recording features sopranos Hila Plitmann and Sangeeta Kaur accompanied by the composer and other pianists and instrumentalists. Mythologies honors Vlasse’s Greek heritage with a collection of works inspired by ancient Greek myths. The compositions celebrate some of his- tory’s most lasting myths and invites listeners to ponder long-standing cultural concepts, such as idolized heroism, divine power, crisis of faith and morality, and the junction of fate and free-will. The album received a glowing review in the fall issue of the Journal of the IAWM and elsewhere. Rodney Punt wrote a lengthy overview of the disc in his blog LA Opus (October 29, 2021): “Each of the work’s seven pieces is a tone-poem unto itself, employing wide-ranging, yet cohesive, musical styles owing alle- giance to Romanticism, Impressionism, and the Baroque, with even a passing nod to the ethereal weightlessness of a more modern sound. Despite her mix of styles, the work coalesces remark- ably well in Vlasse’s skillful musical voice, evoking the sense of an epic and timeless past.” CD and digital versions are available on the Cezanne label (CZ088). You can listen to the album at www.album.link/i/1578586625 and view the music video for “Sirens” at www.youtu.be/rJzU5ib4eP4. Danaë Xanthe Vlasse’s Mythologies Album cover Next >