#ClassicsaDay #WomensHistoryMonth Week 5
By Ralph Graves
The #ClassicsaDay team often uses Women’s History Month as their theme for March. And for good reason. Classical audiences might be aware that there are contemporary female composers. But perhaps not so aware (with the exception of Hildegard von Bingen), of how many women composed music throughout the centuries.
For March 2021, I decided to cycle through the eras. Each week features a woman from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras, plus one from either the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. And this is just a sampling. Here are my picks for the final week of #ClassicsaDay #WomensHistoryMonth.
03/29/21 Abbie Betinis – Dormi, Jesu
Betinis is currently the Composer-in-Residence for The Schubert Club in St. Paul, MN. She specializes in choral and chamber works, sold through her own publishing house.
03/30/21 Mon Schjelderup (1870-1934) – Vuggevise & Sang uden Ord, Opus 13
Norwegian composer Schjelderup began her career at 14 and studied extensively with Jules Massenet.
03/31/21 Judith Shatin (1949 – ) Adonai Ro’i
Shatin composed this setting of Psalm 23 (in Hebrew) in 1995. She wrote it in response to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and has become one of her most-performed works.
