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Celebration of Women’s History Month

This special virtual concert celebrates five women composers from a range of regions and time periods in honor of Women’s History Month. Performed by six talented members of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle (LMC), this program is a showcase of the impact of women in classical music.

Mysterious Summer’s Night by Larysa Kuzmenko (b. 1956)

Karin McCullough, piano

“Fiesta” by Virginia Yep (b. 1960)

Hilary Field, guitar

“Le sommeil de l’enfant” (Berceuse) Op. 35 by Teresa Carreño (1853–1917)

Karin McCullough, piano

“Les trois belles demoiselles” by Pauline Viardot (1821–1910)

Katie Hochman and Regina Thomas, sopranos
Catherine Treadgold, mezzo-soprano
Joan Lundquist, piano

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Program Notes

The program begins with two pieces by contemporary composers. The first piece for solo piano, Mysterious Summer’s Night, was composed by Canadian composer and pianist, Larysa Kuzmenko (b. 1956) in 1993. Kuzmenko’s work has been commissioned and performed by some of North America’s leading ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Her work spans a wide range of genres, including orchestral, chamber, choral, band, and solo works.

The next piece for solo guitar, “Fiesta,” was written by guitarist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, Virginia Yep (b. 1960). Born in Peru, Yep’s compositions are described as exploring the possibilities “within the rigors of classical and contemporary music in a fusion with folkloric Latin American songs.” She has studied music in Peru, Spain, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, and Italy, and has performed all over the world. As an ethnomusicologist, her research focuses on the music of Peru.

The second half of the program features two women composers who all lived in different countries in the 19th century through the turn of the 20th century. Teresa Carreño (1853–1917), who composed “Le sommeil de l’enfant” (Berceuse) Op. 35, was a Venezuelan pianist, composer, singer, and conductor. Her musical family emigrated to New York in 1862, where Carreño met Louis Moreau Gottschalk who helped launch her career at an early age. Carreño enjoyed a successful career as a composer and touring performer in the United States and abroad, even performing for President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

Pauline Viardot (1821–1910), composer of “Les trois belles demoiselles,” was a French singer and composer. Like Carreño, Viardot enjoyed a successful and well-connected musical career, having studied and played with the likes of Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin among others. While an exceptionally talented pianist, Viardot’s parents wished her to train as a singer, which she also excelled in. She was proficient in and inspired by many languages in her performance and compositions, including German, Russian, French, Spanish and Italian.

Program notes by Dr. Katie Beisel Hollenbach