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BOOK REVIEWs A Look at Nine Women, Three Generations in Music E their respective musical languages and have found ach of the nine chapters of this extraordinary success with a variety of listeners new book, Women of Influence in The book's editor, Michael K. Slayton, is a Contemporary Music: Nine American composer and music theorist, currently associate Composers, focuses on a prominent, living, professor and chair of the Department of Music professional composer who has made significant Composition and Theory at Vanderbilt University's contributions to American music. Blair School of Music. Chapter authors, chosen The composers are (in alphabetical order) Eta in consultation with the composers, are Slayton Mu initiate and Composer Bureau member Elizabeth (chapters on Austin, a close friend, and on McTee), Austin (b.1938); Susan Botti (b.1962); Gabriela Lena Carson Cooman (Botti), Deborah Hayes (Frank), Frank (b.1972); Composer Bureau member Jennifer Donald McKinney (Higdon), Tina Milhorn Higdon (b.1962); SAI Member Laureate and Composer Stallard (Larsen), James Spinazzola (León), Sharon Bureau member Libby Larsen (b.1950); National Mirchandani (Richter), and Judith Lochhead Arts Associate Tania León (b.1943); Cindy McTee (Shatin). (b.1953); Composer Bureau member Marga Richter The noted musicologist Karin Pendle provides (b.1926); and Composer Bureau member Judith Shatin an overview in her foreword titled "Who Are These (b.1949). While these influential musicians have much Women of Influence in Women?" She observes that not all of these women in common, not least of all dedication to their art, Contemporary Music: Nine came from musical families, but all were encouraged their individual stories reveal different impulses in American Composers. by their families to pursue their dreams. All nine American music, and their works reflect the shifting composers studied at major music schools or at societal landscapes in the United States from the Edited by Michael K. Slayton. public universities, in the U.S. and elsewhere, for 1940s to the present. Scarecrow Press, 2010. 494 pages their professional preparation. Representing almost three generations of music "Successful composers need access to performers, history, these nine composers have grown up in not only so that others can hear their music but so that they themselves various circumstances, made various employment decisions, faced diverse opportunities and obstacles, and adopted different stylistic approaches and can hear and learn from it. Academic institutions provided initial access in their performing ensembles or in ad hoc groups of students willing to take techniques for writing music. part in composition recitals," Pendle writes. Each chapter includes a biography of the composer in historical Some have had to deal with sexism, and they have had a variety of context, a general description of her particular musical style, formal and experiences with so-called second-wave and third-wave feminism. They informal photographs, an interview, and a detailed analysis of one major manage a wide range of personal and family responsibilities as well as the composition. Chapters are generously illustrated with score excerpts. In demands their work. They teach, coach, conduct, and serve on local and their music, these nine women draw on various traditions — Western national committees and boards as advocates for their art. The book European classical techniques, jazz, the latest popular forms, and other offers a rare glimpse into the styles and attitudes of gifted women and elements of the world's vast musical heritage. In the book the composers their work. — Deborah Hayes openly reflect on their individual journeys, in which they have discovered Fine Tuning Acoustics D r. J. Christopher Jaffe was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Greater Hartford Alumnae Chapter at the Phi Province Day held in Danbury, CT, in the fall of 1981. Recognized as one of the outstanding acousticians of today, he has designed the acoustics for concert halls the world over. With an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polythechnic Institute of Troy, NY, and a love of both theater and music, Jaffe began by developing outdoor and interior orchestral shells with Boris Goldovsky, director of the Tanglewood Opera Theatre. Sometime later, this led to his working with Issac Stern at Carnegie Hall. What a thrill it must have been for him to actually play the violin on the stage of Carnegie Hall so that Mr. Stern could determine 16 PAN PIPES SUMMER 2011 sai-national.org acoustical differences. The book is written in an entertaining but, nonetheless, factual style, covering the development of music halls by going back to the "shoebox" format of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While solutions are technical, the lay person can understand many of the problems involved and their corrections because of the writing style. The requirements of the performer(s) on the stage are given primary consideration. In addition, structural changes are made to accommodate various types and sizes of The Acoustics of groups, serving a multipurpose hall. This book is a fascinating look at what acoustics is Performance Halls all about, a wonderful read. J. Christopher Jaffe — Carol DeMond Downs W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Boston Alumnae Chapter/Alpha initiate 208 pages

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