Focus 2020 Presents Trailblazers: Celebrating Women Composers, Jan. 24-31, 2020

Six Free Concerts Featuring 32 Composers Born in 15 Countries on Five Continents

Friday, January 24, Through Friday, January 31, 2020

Marking the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage in the United States.

NEW YORK –– Juilliard announces the 36th annual Focus festival, Trailblazers: Pioneering Women Composers of the 20th Century, co-curated by Odaline de la Martinez, a Cuban-American conductor and composer based in London, and Focus director and conductor Joel Sachs, taking place from Friday, January 24, through Friday, January 31, 2020. Juilliard’s Focus festival each year offers a survey of a topic in contemporary music. This year’s festival marks the centenary of women’s suffrage in the United States, with the 19th amendment first giving women the vote in 1920. Director Joel Sachs writes that the festival “celebrates a group of women, most of whom came of age in the early 20th century, filled with determination to establish themselves as professional composers. Their struggle was admirable, setting the stage for subsequent generations of women composers, whose numbers and acceptance have grown enormously.”

Co-curator Odaline de la Martinez said, “It’s so important that this festival is happening. We’re making a point—for the students and for the public—about standing up for women composers and recognizing women who fought hard for what we have today.”

The six concerts include the music of 32 composers, born in 15 countries on five continents, including five who are still composing—Jacqueline Fontyn (Belgium, b. 1930), Betsy Jolas (France, b. 1926), Sofia Gubaidulina (USSR/Germany, b. 1931), Young-Ja Lee (Korea, b. 1931), and Thea Musgrave (Scotland/U.S., b. 1928).

The festival will explore the work of several American composers, among them, Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953). Seeger, who was well-known for her interest in American folk music, was also a modernist. Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983), the only woman who was a member of Les Six, will be represented by her Sonata for Harp on January 29. Chinese composer Liu Zhuang’s (1932-2011) Wind Through Pine, for flute, prepared piano, and cello, will be performed on January 27, along with String Quartet No. 3 by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-94), another prominent composer whose work is not often performed. American composer Margaret Bonds (1913-72) studied with Roy Harris, who was on the Juilliard faculty, and she also was enrolled in Juilliard’s Extension Division, where she studied with Robert Starer (faculty 1949-1970). Some of Bonds’ manuscripts are housed in Juilliard’s manuscript collection. Bonds, whose Dream Portraits will be performed on January 30, studied with Florence Price (1887-1953), the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra, the Chicago Symphony. Price’s Piano Sonata will be performed on January 28. Composer Lili Boulanger’s (1893-1918) Nocturne and Cortège for violin and piano will be performed on January 30, and South African composer Priaulx Rainier (1903-86) who studied with Lili’s sister, Nadia Boulanger, will have two pieces performed during the chamber music week: Ubunzima and Dance of the Rain on January 28. Korean composer Young-ja Lee’s (b. 1931) daughter, June Han (DMA ’04, harp), will be a panelist on the January 28 pre-concert discussion, along with Odaline de la Martinez, Thea Musgrave, and Joel Sachs. Young-ja Lee’s Le Pélerinage de l’Âme will be featured on the concert that follows that evening.

All concerts are free, and tickets are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.

The festival opens on Friday, January 24, 2020, at 7:30pm in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater with the New Juilliard Ensemble (N.J.E.), led by Joel Sachs. The ensemble will play Méandres (2009-10, U.S. premiere) by Jacqueline Fontyn (Belgium, b. 1930); Girasol (1995) by Ursula Mamlok (Germany/U.S., 1923-2016); Three Songs (1930-32) by Ruth Crawford Seeger (U.S., 1901-53) with soprano Britt Hewitt; Six Tempi for Ten Instruments, Op. 42 (1957) by Elisabeth Lutyens (U.K., 1906-1983); and Octet (1949-50) by Galina Ustvolskaya (USSR/Russia, 1919-2006).

Chamber music concerts take place Monday, January 27 through Thursday, January 30, in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater. A pre-concert panel discussion with composition alumna June Han, co-curator Odaline de la Martinez, composer Thea Musgrave, and Joel Sachs will take place on Tuesday, January 28, at 6:30pm in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater. The concert that evening features the music of three U.S. composers: Mary Lou Williams, Vivian Fine, and Florence Price.

The Juilliard Orchestra performs the closing-night concert on Friday, January 31, 2020, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. The concert will be led by conductor David Robertson, director of Juilliard’s conducting studies and distinguished visiting faculty, along with his student conductors Kyle Ritenauer, Sasha Scolnik-Brower, and Molly Turner. The program features A Little Summer Suite (2015) by Betsy Jolas (France, b. 1926); Cello Concerto No. 2 with Juilliard cellist Samuel DeCaprio by Grazyna Bacewicz (Poland, 1909-69); “On the Cliffs of Cornwall” (prelude to Act II of The Wreckers) (1904) by Ethel Smyth (U.K., 1858-1944); Rainbow (1990) by Thea Musgrave (Scotland/U.S., b. 1928); and The Rider on the White Horse (2002) by Sofia Guibaidulina (USSR/Germany, B. 1931) with Juilliard organist Raphael Vogl. David Robertson is appearing courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera, where he is conducting Porgy and Bess.