ABOUT
San Francisco Performances’ 2022 Salon Series: The Women, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.
Featuring exclusively the works of women composers, the series was comprised of 4 concerts, featuring music spanning over four and a half centuries, shedding light on the long history of musical pioneers who have been overlooked due to centuries of sexism. A wide range of composers were explored, from the first woman to have a book of her music published, Maddalena Casulana, to women composers of the Parisian Belle époque like Pauline Viardot, to 20th century composers such as Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, as well as some of the women composers of today, such as Stacy Garrop and Errollyn Wallen.
This series adapted CAIC’s 2020 Collaborative Works Festival programming, expanding it from 3 to 4 concerts.
PROGRAM I:
WOMEN OF THE BAROQue
The series’ first concert, Women of the Baroque, featured the works of the many overlooked women composers of the late Renaissance and Baroque period, including French composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Italian composer Maddalena Casaluna, who was the first woman in western music history to have an entire book of her musical compositions published.
ARTISTS
Maya Kherani, soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Matthew Worth, baritone | Carla Moore, violin | Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba | Katherine Heater, harpsichord
PROGRAM
MADDALENA CASULANA: Vagh’amorosi augelli
FRANCESCA CACCINI: O vive rose | Io mi distruggo | Chi desia di saper che cosa è Amore
ELISABETH JACQUET DE LA GUERRE: Nos veoux…Dormés, dormés from Le sommeil d’Ulisse
ANTONIA BEMBO: Passan veloci l’hore
BARBARA STROZZI: Un amante doglioso
JULIE PINEL: Rossignol vous chantez
ANTONIA BEMBO: Ha que l’absence
BARBARA STROZZI: Che si può fare, Op. 8, no. 6
BARBARA STROZZI: Amor dormiglione, Op. 2, no. 22
PROGRAM II:
LES PARISIENNES
The series’ second concert, Les Parisiennes, featured the works of the women composers trailblazing during the years of the Parisian Belle époque: songs which broke barriers, pushing past the domestic confines of Paris' salons to the city's grand, public concert halls.
ARTISTS
Esther Tonea, soprano | Gabrielle Beatag, mezzo-soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Robert Mollicone, piano
PROGRAM
CÉCILE CHAMINADE: selected songs
NADIA BOULANGER: selected songs
JULIA PERRY: How Beautiful are the Feet of Them
GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE: Six chansons françaises
PAULINE VIARDOT: selected songs
LILI BOULANGER: selections from Clairières dans le ciel
PROGRAM III:
ENGLAND, CZECH, GERMANY
The series’ third concert featured the works of the women composers of England, Germany, and what is now the Czech Republic.
ARTISTS
Mikayla Sager, soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Edward Nelson, baritone | Carrie-Ann Matheson, piano
PROGRAM
FANNY MENDELSSOHN-HENSEL: selected songs
CLARA SCHUMANN: selected songs
REBECCA CLARKE: The Cloths of Heaven, Up-Hill
ETHYL SMYTH: Three Songs
VITESZLAVA KAPRÁLOVÁ: Sbohem a šáteček
ALMA MAHLER: selected songs
PROGRAM IV:
MODERN WOMEN
The series’ closing concert, Modern Women, showcased the work of some of today’s women composers, as well as the songs of American women composers of the 20th century.
ARTISTS
Gabrielle Beatag, mezzo-soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Efraín Solis, baritone | Shannon McGinnis, piano
PROGRAM
MARGARET BONDS: Young Love in Spring from Songs of the Seasons
STACY GARROP: My Dearest Ruth
ERROLLYN WALLEN: Roundel (West Coast Premiere)
FLORENCE PRICE: Songs to a Dark Virgin, Out of the South Blew a Wind
RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER: Home Thoughts
IVA BITTOVÁ: Nezabudka (West Coast Premiere)
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Cuatro Canciones Andinas
UNDINE SMITH MOORE: I Want to Die While You Love Me