Her Voice: Chamber Music by Women Composers
“Her Voice” celebrates the rich heritage of string quartet compositions by women composers from diverse historical and cultural backgrounds. Although the fiercely passionate and rhapsodic string quartet by Fanny Mendelssohn was never publicly performed during her lifetime, it stands as one of the earliest surviving romantic string quartets by a woman composer. Strum is a vibrant one-movement work drawing on American folk idioms and dance by living American composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery. The first and unfinished string quartet in G major by Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her work performed by a major American orchestra, is alternately peaceful and hymnal, yet vibrant and impassioned. The first quartet by Dame Ethel Smyth, an English composer and dedicated suffragist, is full of fiery intensity and raw energy, yet also introspection and lyrical beauty.
March 22, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Trinity Lutheran Church
1225 Hopyard Road
Pleasanton, CA 94566
March 24, 2024 at 3 PM
Benicia Community Congregational Church
1305 W 2nd Street Benicia, CA 94510
Program:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel - String Quartet in E-flat Major
Jessie Montgomery - Strum
Florence Price - String Quartet No. 1 in G Major
Ethel Smyth - String Quartet in C Minor
Players:
Alicia Choi, violin
Jooyeon Kong, violin
Alexandra Simpson, viola
Brady Anderson, cello