Women shape the world and their influence on symphonic music is far greater than the average classical music program might lend you to believe. In Hear Me Roar, we challenge the traditional image of the classical music composer (white, male…dead) and present the work of artists from all over the world and spanning nearly a century.
Explore our digital guide and discover the women behind the music of this wonderful program celebrating women’s unique voices in classical music.
Explore our digital guide and discover the women behind the music of this wonderful program celebrating women’s unique voices in classical music.
|COMPOSERS | LISTEN |
FLORENCE B. PRICE (1887-1953)
In 1932, American classical composer Florence Price made history with the premiere of her Symphony in E minor debuted by Chicago Symphony making her the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.
A native of Little Rock, Price moved to Chicago after a series of racial incidents. It was here that Price would begin a new and fulfilling period in her musical career. Her work on our program, Dances in the Canebrakes is a suite of dances based on African American spirituals. Written for piano, her good friend Will Grant Still felt that it deserved an orchestral treatment and orchestrated it for Price, though she knew how to write for orchestra.
In 1932, American classical composer Florence Price made history with the premiere of her Symphony in E minor debuted by Chicago Symphony making her the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.
A native of Little Rock, Price moved to Chicago after a series of racial incidents. It was here that Price would begin a new and fulfilling period in her musical career. Her work on our program, Dances in the Canebrakes is a suite of dances based on African American spirituals. Written for piano, her good friend Will Grant Still felt that it deserved an orchestral treatment and orchestrated it for Price, though she knew how to write for orchestra.
DORA PEJAČEVIĆ(1885-1923)
Croatian composer and member of the Pejačević noble family, Maria Theodora Paulina Pejačević (Dora) was one of the composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music. Largely self-taught in music Pejačević, started to compose at the age of twelve.
During the Great War, Dora experienced the reality beyond her noble life first hand when she volunteered as a nurse for the wounded soldiers who started arriving in her home village of Nasice. Some of her finest works come from this difficult time, including her splendid Symphony in F Sharp minor , composed between 1916 and 1917. It received its premiere in Dresden in 1920 and will receive its Chicago Premiere on this program.
Croatian composer and member of the Pejačević noble family, Maria Theodora Paulina Pejačević (Dora) was one of the composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music. Largely self-taught in music Pejačević, started to compose at the age of twelve.
During the Great War, Dora experienced the reality beyond her noble life first hand when she volunteered as a nurse for the wounded soldiers who started arriving in her home village of Nasice. Some of her finest works come from this difficult time, including her splendid Symphony in F Sharp minor , composed between 1916 and 1917. It received its premiere in Dresden in 1920 and will receive its Chicago Premiere on this program.
JENNIFER HIGDON (b.1962)
Jennifer Higdon is a major figure in contemporary Classical music, receiving the Pulitzer Prize in Music and a Grammy in 2010. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works including her piece Blue Cathedral - one of America’s most performed contemporary orchestral works, with more than 600 performances worldwide since its premiere in 2000.
A self-taught flutist, Higdon began composing at 21, and is fluent across genres, including orchestral chamber, choral, vocal, and wind ensemble. Her work titled Dance Card is part of Project W - Chicago Sinfonietta's initiative to commission works by four diverse women composers. Co-commissioned by Chicago Sinfonietta, this performance of her work will mark its Chicago premiere.
Jennifer Higdon is a major figure in contemporary Classical music, receiving the Pulitzer Prize in Music and a Grammy in 2010. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works including her piece Blue Cathedral - one of America’s most performed contemporary orchestral works, with more than 600 performances worldwide since its premiere in 2000.
A self-taught flutist, Higdon began composing at 21, and is fluent across genres, including orchestral chamber, choral, vocal, and wind ensemble. Her work titled Dance Card is part of Project W - Chicago Sinfonietta's initiative to commission works by four diverse women composers. Co-commissioned by Chicago Sinfonietta, this performance of her work will mark its Chicago premiere.
REENA ESMAIL (b.1983)
Indian-American composer, Reena Esmail “creates richly melodic lines that imbue her music with the heights of lyricism, balanced by winning textural clarity” (American Academy of Arts and Letters). A graduate of Juilliard and Yale School of Music, and a 2011-12 Fulbright grantee to India, Esmail’s work draws elements from both Western and Hindustani (North Indian) classical music.
Esmail’s works have received honors from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and ASCAP, and have been performed throughout the United States, in India and abroad. A part of Project W - Chicago Sinfonietta's initiative to commission works by four diverse women composers - Esmail’s work titled #metoo will have its world premiere on our program.
Indian-American composer, Reena Esmail “creates richly melodic lines that imbue her music with the heights of lyricism, balanced by winning textural clarity” (American Academy of Arts and Letters). A graduate of Juilliard and Yale School of Music, and a 2011-12 Fulbright grantee to India, Esmail’s work draws elements from both Western and Hindustani (North Indian) classical music.
Esmail’s works have received honors from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and ASCAP, and have been performed throughout the United States, in India and abroad. A part of Project W - Chicago Sinfonietta's initiative to commission works by four diverse women composers - Esmail’s work titled #metoo will have its world premiere on our program.
After moving to Chicago, financial troubles led to a divorce in 1931. A single mother to her two daughters, Florence B. Price worked as an organist for silent film screenings and composed songs for radio ads under a pen name to make ends meet.
Despite her troubles, Price was met with much success in her musical career, including the premiere of her first symphony by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This would make her the first African-American woman to have a composition played by a major orchestra.
Canebrakes, pictured here, are thick patches of grasses such as bamboo much like what Price may have found near her hometown of Little Rock.
Her work on our program, Dances in the Canebrakes is a suite of dances based on African American spirituals. Much of Price's works are still being rediscovered by today's leading organizations, and unfortunately recordings of this orchestration do not exist.
Dance cards are very small booklets used by women at formal dances in the nineteenth and early twentieth to record their dance partners. Inside the card were pages listing the names of the dances. A man would ask a woman for a particular dance, and his name would be penciled in on that line.
Jennifer Higdon writes “‘Dance Card’ is a celebration of the joy, lyricism and passion of a group of strings playing together! This work reflects the deep commitment that string players bring to their music making[...] When we attend as audience members, we in effect, fill our dance card with that shared experience.”
Esmail was already in the process of writing her Sinfonietta commission when #MeToo entered the national consciousness in October 2017. Moved by both her rage and solidarity with the bravery of the women (and men) who were telling their stories, she took her responsibilities as an artist and composer to their necessary conclusions: Start real, honest discussions about how each one of us can contribute to a better future for everyone. Thus, what was already underway with a working title of Avaaz was given new purpose and became #metoo.
In 2006, Tarana Burke founded the me too. movement to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing. Using the idea of “empowerment through empathy,” the me too. movement was ultimately created to ensure survivors know they're not alone in their journey. The me too. movement has built a community of survivors from all walks of life. By bringing vital conversations about sexual violence into the mainstream, we're helping to de-stigmatize survivors by highlighting the breadth and impact sexual violence has on thousands of women, and we’re helping those who need it to find entry points to healing. Ultimately, with survivors at the forefront of this movement, we're aiding the fight to end sexual violence. We want to uplift radical community healing as a social justice issue and are committed to disrupting all systems that allow sexual violence to flourish. “For too long, survivors of sexual assault and harassment have been in the shadows. We have been afraid to speak up, to say ‘Me Too’ and seek accountability. For many, the consequences of doing so have been devastating,” said Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement.
