The feminist movement of the 60's and 70's did more than just give women a reason to burn their bras. It also introduced music historians to the idea of feminist musicology, a movement which spurred a scholarly interest in the study of women as it pertained to music. The resulting investigations produced evidence of women who worked as musicians and composers throughout history, just like their male counterparts, albeit without nearly the same type of recognition.

The Eastman School of Music's annual Women in Music Festival highlights the accomplishments of distaff musicians and composers from the past, and aims to also celebrate the women composers of the present. "One cannot deny the fact that some women had - and still have - to fight really hard for their music to be heard in the first place," says Eastman professor Dr. Sylvie Beaudette, founder of the Women in Music Festival. "Others, very successful in their lifetime, were totally ignored in music history books until recently."

The idea for the festival was conceived in the fall of 2004, when Beaudette and her class, appropriately titled "Women in Music," saw a lack of women composers' works on Eastman concert programs and decided to do something about it. "We knew that most recital and concert programs were filled with classical standards composed by men," says Beaudette, "and we wanted to change that fact and start introducing new standards. The idea of the festival was the one that got the most enthusiastic response from the class members."

Since its inception, the Women in Music Festival's commitment to celebrating women who are successful professionals in the field has been made possible through the naming of a festival composer-in-residence. "I try to alternate Eastman alumnae and other composers well known to performers," Beaudette says. "I feel that having alumnae gives students a sense of history and continuity vis-à-vis the Eastman School of Music and shows them a path they have taken since graduating. As for the other composers, I hear their music, talk to them, then I invite them. So far, nobody has said no."

This year's composer-in-residence is Emma Lou Deimer. An Eastman alum, Deimer graduated from the school with her doctorate in composition in 1960. She has been published since 1957 in a variety of genres. Her awards and honors include a Ford Foundation Young Composers Grant, an NEA Scholarship, and a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, as well as numerous others. The festival will honor Deimer with a concert of her music on Tuesday, March 23, at 8 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church. The concert will include choral and organ works by Deimer, as well as the world premiere of "Quartet on Themes by Howard Hanson" by members of Ossia, Eastman's new music ensemble.

This year the festival's schedule is built around five noontime concerts. For the first time the noonday concerts will be taking place throughout Rochester, allowing not only for more possibilities to be an audience member, but also for more performers to take part. Locations for these concerts include Nazareth College, Washington Square, and the University of Rochester, as well as regular venues at Eastman. Other events of the festival include a guest lecture by musicologist Amy Zigler about 19th century composer Ethyl Smith, an organ master class with Deimer, and a special concert by the Ricochet Duo, a chamber ensemble made up of Eastman alumna Rose Chancler, piano, and marimbist Jane Boxall.

According to Beaudette, the programming for the festival helps to make it unique. The "major difference [from other festivals] is that performers pick their own music. That seems strange to most organizers I talk to, since I basically don't know what will be on the program until mid-February," she says. "It's a little kamikaze, I admit it myself. However, the advantage is that performers know best what works for their own instrument. Therefore, they pick wonderful repertoire that they're excited about."

Beaudette stresses that the atmosphere of the festival is positive. "I think that this festival focuses more on the achievements of women in music than the odds they face. I want it to be ‘festive' and positive, an experience that people want to be part of, either as performers or as audience members."

For more information about the Women in Music Festival artists, as well as a complete concert schedule, visit esm.rochester.edu/wmf.

Women in Music Festival

Monday, March 22-Friday, March 26

Various venues

Free | 274-2100, esm.rochester.edu/wmf