Going back to the Yeats poem… I would like the audience to think about Project 19 in that way: that they're going to hear 19 new pieces by people who sometimes don't feel like they can have a voice, who are being given an opportunity to have a voice—and for audiences, once again, to tread softly about this living art, and not to dismiss it, because these are our dreams, and if they're not tread upon, then they might live and blossom into other people's dreams.
The New York Philharmonic made a powerful commitment to contemporary music and to artistic equity this season with the announcement of Project 19, a multi-year initiative through which the Philharmonic has commissioned new works from 19 women composers, to commemorate the centenary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It's one of the boldest, most proactive, and frankly most appealing undertakings the institution has put forward recently—and, speaking personally, I very much hope to hear every piece performed.
This afternoon, the Philharmonic amplified that initiative with the first in a series of video profiles introducing the composers involved with Project 19—and these, too, are being created by women artists. In just under five minutes, the director Veena Rao introduces Nina C. Young, whose Tread Softly is included in Philharmonic concerts on Feb. 5, 6, 8, and 11, inaugurating the series. Young – who's quoted at the top of this post – talks about her earliest sonic memories, the Yeats poem that inspired her ("Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven"), and how she found the text complemented her thoughts about women's suffrage.
Should you wish to hear more of Young's music – and yes: yes, you should – there's plenty to see and hear on YouTube. I'd recommend her chamber-orchestra piece Vestigia Flammae, played in its local premiere by Ensemble Échappé, the new-music sinfonietta Young co-founded. The performance (which I was fortunate to attend) took place on April 20, 2018, at St. Peter's Church, Lexington Avenue.
And, if your travels will take you anywhere near Troy, NY, in March, Young has another fascinating performance ahead. On March 19, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute presents The Glow That Illuminates, the Glare That Obscures, a evening-length audiovisual performance-installation piece for brass quintet, overhead wave field synthesis, and projections, performed by Young and the American Brass Quintet. You'll find all the details you need here.
Comments