Music by women composers, from medieval to contemporary, will be the focus of the fall concert of Choral Arts. The performance, "Voices of Eve," is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at Second Presbyterian Church, 700 Pine St. Admission is $15 ($5 for students).
The concert will consist of both sacred and secular works. The first half of the concert will include a medieval piece by Hildegard von Bingen, a Baroque motet by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, a classical motet by Amalia Herzogin von Sachsen, a modern anthem by Emma Lou Diemer and a te deum (an early Christian hymn of praise) by Amy Beach, the first successful American woman composer.
The second half of the concert will include Italian madrigals by Vittoria Aleotti and Maddalena Casulana (the first woman composer in Western musical history to publish her works), three Romantic songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (older sister of Felix), a poem setting by Lili Boulanger (younger sister of composition teacher Nadia), settings of several English folk songs by Cecilia McDowall and "Now Touch the Air Softly," a poem setting by local contemporary composer Susan LaBarr.
According to Choral Arts artistic director Keith Reas, the program offers listeners a tremendous variety of works from early women composers who are largely unknown to lesser-known works by better-known composers, such as Hensel and Beach.
For more information, visit www.choralartsofchattanooga.org.