Sigma Alpha Iota

Winter 2020 6 PAN PIPES F or its third annual composers concert, the Pasadena Alumnae Chapter (PAC) decided to do something we had been wanting to do for awhile--feature a program of exclusively female composers. On November 2, 2019 at the First Presbyterian Church of Burbank, California, we invited the community to hear the works of talented female composers in a concert titled Hear Her Score. In the era of #MeToo, during a previously unseen cultural push to promote women in the arts, it was easy to build a program of outstanding female composers young and old, from near and far. Some of these composers were our own members; some were already standard repertoire legends. We also extended a call for scores to the Alliance for Women Film Composers, which got an enormous response, and selected several entries to be included on the program. Aer a brief welcome from our chapter president, Sandra Tully, PAC soprano Gwendolyn Brown started things off with spirituals by Undine S. Moore, a prolific African American composer of the 18th century: Love Let the Winds Cry and Undine's arrangement of Watch and Pray. Gwendolyn was accompanied by PAC member Marjorie Poe. Next on the program was the premiere of PAC composer Kristen Hirlinger's newest vocal piece, Barter, featuring the text of American poet Sara Teasdale and sung by PAC soprano Lauren Eliason. Teasdale's words from her 1917 poem paint pictures to implore the listener to invest in the loveliness life has to offer. Kristen accompanied at the piano. We were honored to feature next a performance by the San Fernando Valley Woodwind Quintet, made up of Kathy Marsh, flute; erese Grundl, clarinet; Steve Ades, bassoon; Janeen Apodaca, horn; and PAC member Victoria Sabonjohn, oboe. e gentle, soothing tones of Amy Beach's Pastorale for Woodwind Quintet painted the sanctuary in beautiful harmonies, followed by the fast, frenetic notes of the third movement of Katherine Hoover's Homage to Bartok. PAC member Fern Fay closed the first half of the program with a roiling, fiery organ solo, Toccata for a Joyful Day, composed by Emma Lou Diemer, a member of the SAI Composer's Bureau. Audience members visited the lobby during intermission to make donations, which would all be donated to SAI Philanthropies, Inc. Opening the second half of the program was an electronics piece by Los Angeles composer Drum & Lace, Parhelion. We connected with Drum & Lace through the Alliance for Women Film Composers; Drum & Lace has written for various documentaries and TV shows, including Apple TV+'s Dickinson. PAC member Katerina Lynch conducted a string trio and piano to the lush textures in Drum & Lace's electronics. Guest performers were Lisa Liu, violin; Niall Taro, cello; and Ro Rowan, cello; with PAC member Kristen Hirlinger at the piano. Up next was PAC member Bonnie Janofsky performing her work, Olivia's First Waltz, at the piano. Olivia's First Waltz won Best Instrumental Jazz Song at the 2002 JPF Music Awards, and Bonnie herself serves on the boards of many professional music organizations based in Los Angeles, including the American Federation of Musicians Local 47. Another PAC composer, Katerina Lynch, took to the piano with soprano Amy Waters to perform her piece, A Clear Midnight. PAC member Marjorie Poe followed with a selection of themes from her own score written for the musical, e Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby, produced by the LA City College eatre Academy in 1984. We featured another guest, Canadian composer Jayla Damaris, whom we met through our call for scores with the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and her work for woodwind trio, Musings. PAC members Kristen Hirlinger, flute, and Victoria Sabonjohn, oboe, joined forces with Los Angeles bassoonist Jonathan Stehney to perform the gentle, flowing lullaby of Damaris' third movement. We were honored to have her in attendance at the concert. Lastly, we premiered the work of a local composer who had written for us for a previous concert. With an ensemble of seven PAC members, we premiered Soraya, written by Giya Rush specifically for our concert that day. With a diverse instrumentation, including the world's sweetest trombone and oboe duet, Soraya's themes soared over a driving pulse very similar to that of a film score. Giya Rush (a.k.a. Ghiya Rushidat) has scored numerous documentaries and movies, and recently won the BMI Foundation Pete Carpenter Fellowship in 2017. Performers were Kristen Hirlinger, flute; Victoria Sabonjohn, oboe; Lindsay McMurray, trombone; Tia Annis, cello; Lauren Eliason, soprano; Marjorie Poe, piano; Bonnie Janofsky, percussion; and conducted by Katerina Lynch. All in all, we received a total of $802 in donations, all of which went to SAI Philanthropies, Inc. We also took satisfaction in having exposed the community to works by female composers they may not have heard before, spreading the knowledge of a repertoire of talented women, and participating in the movement to raise up more women in music. Our Annual Concert Committee consisted of co-chairwomen Lauren Eliason and Kristen Hirlinger, and committee members Gail Brow— who was the creator of our first American Composers Concert in 2017—Jordan Drayer, and Katerina Lynch. Special thanks to PAC volunteers, Sandra Tully, Tia Annis, and Edie Marshall; and to PAC member Carolyn Lessley and her husband Dave, who generously donated the venue. —Kristen Hirlinger, Annual Concert Committee, Pasadena Alumnae Chapter Hear Her Score: A Concert Celebrating Female Composers Members of the Pasadena Alumnae Chapter, with Delta A Province Officer Kendall Allen. MUSIC NOTES

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