Five Contemporary Choral Composers to Highlight During Women’s History Month 2023
Can you believe it’s already the last week of Women’s History Month? Fun fact: the inaugural American Women’s History Month was celebrated in 1987, acknowledging the many contributions and achievements women have made throughout history. Let’s take a moment to celebrate the many contributions women have made to the field of choral music! This week’s post is all about five Choral Composers to highlight during this last week of Women’s History Month:
There are so many great lists of women who have contributed to the field of choral music. (I’ve linked a bunch of these below for your reference.) This week’s post is a nod to just a few of the excellent composers that I have featured on Inspired Choir this past year and is by no means exhaustive.
Get To Know the Composers
Reena Esmail
Los Angeles based Reena Esmail composes in a style that is a wonderful fusion of Western and Indian classical musics. As a first-generation Indian American, Esmail found her musical style by searching for “places between my cultural identities that felt resonant to me.”
In addition to her choral works, Esmail has composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voice and instruments (Western and Hindustani), and youth ensembles of all kinds.
Alysia Lee
Although her compositions are just emerging in the choral world, Alysia Lee has made quite the impact to music education. Through her teaching, community engagement, choral editing, and arts advocacy, Lee has received national recognition.
As founder and artistic director of the Sister Cities Girlchoir, Lee has helped to provide a safe space for singers to build resilience and connection in a world-class trend-setting choral training program.
Alexandra Olsavsky
What Happens When A Woman was composed by . Based in Chicago, musical artist Alexandra Olsavsky collaborates with a variety of musical ensembles, singing music of many genres, eras, and cultures.
A founding member of the vocal group Artemisia, Olsavsky has performed nationally and internationally.
Ysaye Barnwell
A multi-faceted musician and professional, Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell is a speech pathologist, professor, violinist, vocalist, sign language interpreter, voice-over actress, children’s book author, master teacher, choral clinician, and composer.
As a member of the vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock from 1979-2013, Barnwell has shared her experience and understanding of singing in the African American Tradition and modeled her pedagogy for numerous educators.
Susan Labarr
I love to program and study works by contemporary composers – and get even more excited when those composers use texts from current authors!
Susan LaBarr is a composer and choral editor who has an impressive list of titles for a variety of choirs. Some pieces you may know include the gorgeous Grace Before Sleep and After the Storm.
Amplify Women Composers’ Voices
Thanks to Women’s History Month, we have so many great resources to help us amplify women composers’ voices in our choral spaces. Below are some resources to help us to highlight the work of women composers all year long!
- Vox Femina’s Weekly Women’s History Month Composer Video Series has been fun to follow on their Instagram Page!
- Audio Network’s “The History of Women in Music“
- Classic fM’s “21 of the Greatest Women Composers in Classical Music“
- Smithsonian Music’s “Stories of Women in Music“
- Stacker’s “50 Women Who Broke Barriers in the Music Industry“
- Stereo Fox’s “15 Organisations Which Support Women in Music And Work Towards Equality in the Music Industry“
- Orange County Women’s Chorus “Women Composers Database“
- The Institute for Composer Diversity’s Choral Database
Music Teachers! Want to have your students amplify Women Composers’ Voices in your choir spaces? Join my email list below and get my free Women’s History Month Composer Worksheet!
Teacher Resources
Worksheets, Lesson Plan Bundles, & Teaching Guides!
Let me share my teaching resources with you! Each post linked above includes a link to a FREE comprehension worksheet.
Are you a choir teacher who has programmed work by any of the composers above? Check out the Inspired Choir Shop for lesson plan bundles and teaching guides. Don’t see what you are looking for? Shoot me an email and I’ll get working on it for you!
Enjoying the Inspiration?
I have more Take Five For Inspiration Posts for you! Take a look:
