“On Thursday and Friday, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed a pair of hour-long concerts of music composed entirely by female composers for roughly 4,000 local sixth-graders,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Friday’s (2/2) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Most classical music programs are dominated by male composers and orchestras around the country are under scrutiny for a lack of diversity in programming. PSO associate conductor Andres Franco led the orchestra, and Shattered Glass podcast hosts Marita Garrett and Monica Hershberger narrated the event. Shattered Glass tells the stories of extraordinary women shattering the glass ceiling. The program, ‘Fierce and Female: Unsung Music Makers,’ included music by historic composers Clara Schumann, Cecile Chaminade, Florence Price, Lili Boulanger and Amy Beach as well as living composers Ellen Taaffe Zwilich-the first female composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for music-Gabriela Lena Frank, Jennifer Higdon and Hannah Ishizaki. In March, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will give the world premiere of Ms. Higdon’s Tuba Concerto. Ms. Ishizaki is a 17-year-old senior at Mt. Lebanon High School and is the youngest female composer ever to have had a piece of music premiered by the PSO.… Symphony staff said that they hope to repeat some of the music that appeared on the program in future seasons.”
Posted February 5, 2018
In photo: At the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Fierce and Female” concerts last week, “Shattered Glass” podcast hosts Marita Garrett and Monica Small Hershberger served as narrators. Photo provided by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
