“Too long denied sufficient hearings, these three women present contrasting styles and convincingly moving musical statements, full of power and élan, demanding that they be heard.”
A coveted text in any musicologist’s library is the Cobbett Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music. Thanks to MM artistic director Jim Berkenstock, I own a copy of this all-important text. It is a treasure trove of information on great composers. When researching this program, I was not surprised to find only one paragraph relating to Johanna Müller-Hermann. This is not because these women composers weren’t successful or impressive but because these women needed to be heard, which rarely happened. As you will hear in this program, MM is a leader in promoting such composers. These women represent diverse styles and backgrounds but share a common thread: all were denied the recognition and opportunities afforded to their male peers. Through their music, they should be heard and celebrated for their talent and creativity.
I have learned much about this topic, “Women in Music,” and still have so much to learn. The only time I felt acutely aware of my gender in music was when I was an orchestral conducting student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was thrilling. But I had few role models—only a handful of orchestras in 2000 were conducted by women. That is quickly changing. And so are the number of current women composers being heard in performance.
As far as the contribution of Midsummer’s Music, did you know?
Each year, Midsummer’s Music and the Griffon String Quartet present works written by female composers and performed by women musicians. While there are millions of male composers, “only 5,000 women composers are known going back to 450 BC.” There is a gender imbalance in this field. That is a quote from The Strad, August 2021 “Forgotten in HIStory: shining a light on female composers through the ages.”
A Forbes article from March 2021 stated a need to “see more female representation and leadership” to increase the number of women in the music industry. Fortunately, things are changing for the good. The 19th century idea that a woman’s role as a musician as a parlor performer in the home but not professionally has changed and continues to change. Elfrida Andrée had to appeal to her town council in mid-nineteenth century Sweden for the right to perform as her church organist, because the law at the time prohibited women in that position. She went on to be an esteemed composer and the first woman to conduct a Swedish orchestra. Midsummer’s Music has not only performed her work but also has featured her on one of its recordings. Within the last few generations, the Berlin Philharmonic finally admitted its first woman member bowing to a trend already begun in most other orchestras. Currently – although there is still a numerical inequality in some orchestras – others now have a majority of women. Midsummer’s Music has been in the forefront of this effort since the beginning. Our interest is not to reach some kind of numerical magic, but, to the point of this week’s program, these women – performers and composers alike – are of such talent and ability that they are “Women to be Heard.”
Through programming, education, outreach, and performance, we seek to enhance our audience’s experience and advocate amazing pieces by women composers and performers. By performing multiple works by women composers, Midsummer’s Music is unique. Remarkably, a September 2021 study states that “Women in music compose only 5% of pieces on classical concerts.”
In summer 2023, Midsummer’s Music will perform 19% of our works by female composers.
These performances of women compositions will include the following professional and world-class women musicians: Ann Palen, Suzanne Beia, and Sahada Buckley, violin; Sally Chisholm, Allyson Fleck, Cathy Lynn, Kyla Patrick, viola; Heather Zinninger, flute; Lindsay Flowers, oboe; Paula Kosower and Mara McClain, cello; Jeannie Yu, piano; Alicia Lee, clarinet. We will engage 13 women and 11 men as concert performers in 2023. The current national average is 67% men and 33% women in professional orchestra performances. Midsummer’s Music ensemble routinely features women in at least 50% of its makeup. Again, because (by virtue of talent and ability) these are “Women to be Heard.”
We have much to celebrate in MM’s achievements and even more in the live, intimate, and powerful music performances!
Please join us for Women to be Heard, featuring three women composers: Ilse Fromm Michaels, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Johanna Müller-Hermann. Performances are 7:00pm, June 22, at Egg Harbor’s Kress Pavilion, sponsored by Mike & Ann Morgan; 7:00pm, June 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim; 7:00pm, June 24, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; and 5:00pm, June 25, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor. The entire Women to be Heard program is co-sponsored by 100+ Women Who Care Door County and the Women’s Fund of Door County.
Allyson Fleck
Executive Director and Assistant Artistic Director