On December 10, the Boulanger Initiative—which promotes music composed by women through performance, education, and commissions—will present a program entitled “Phenomenal Women from Clara to Clarice” at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The concert celebrating Clara Schumann’s 200th birthday will feature music by women composers ranging from Schumann to Brazilian composer Clarice Assad, with featured performers including singer Alicia Hall Moran and pianist Lara Downes. There will be a pre-concert talk with Downes, Moran, and Assad. Downes will perform selections from her 2019 album Holes in the Sky; the concert will also feature works by Florence Price, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Lili Boulanger, Margaret Bonds, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Clarice Assad, and other living women composers. Violinist Laura Colgate and organist Joy-Leilani Garbutt are the co-founders of the Boulanger Initiative, a Washington, D.C.-based organization launched in 2018.
Posted December 5, 2019
In photo, from left: Joy-Leilani Garbutt and Laura Colgatem, co-founders and artistic directors of the Boulanger Initiative. Photo by Geoff Sheil
