Photo by Brad Cansler / Kayoko Dan is music director and conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, which opens its 87th season on Thursday night.The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera embarks upon its 87th season this week with Russian composers at the forefront, women composers spotlighted throughout the season and a Broadway bombshell waiting in the wings. Add one of the most recognizable symphonies in the Western world and sprinkle with a little Disney magic, and you have the makings of a memorable year.
The 2019-20 season has “so many noteworthy programs,” says Samantha Teter, CSO executive director, citing the focus on female composers in the Masterworks and Chamber series as especially important to her.
“We’re offering a spotlight on the contributions of women in classical music, in addition to featuring several female guest artists such as Gloria Chien and Mela Dailey,” she says.
Music director and conductor Kayoko Dan says she was inspired by composer Rob Deemer’s initiative with Institute for Composer Diversity for adding the female composers to this year’s lineup. Housed at the State University of New York at Fredonia, the institute offers a widely hailed Composer Diversity Database, which allows users to browse through almost 4,000 composers, and a newly updated ICD Works Database, which enables searches for individual compositions.
Deemer has said the databases have been a way to combat the “inherent bias against underrepresented composers. “Until now, students in elementary, junior high and high school have rarely if ever been introduced to women composers and composers of color, except as special outliers,” he told I Care If You Listen, a blog and video platform devoted to contemporary classical music.