6 LGBTQI+ Composers you should listen TODAY

Equality should be celebrated every day and Donne's main goal is to AMPLIFY all the voices.

We would like to invite you to listen to these amazing LGTBQI+ composers during June, the PRIDE MONTH! And don't forget to share.

Do you have any other names to suggest? We would love to make a part two of this list! Let us know!

And happy listening!

ETHEL SMYTH - USA

Dame Ethel Smyth (1858 - 1944) was a queer English composer, writer and a member of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Her works consists in Operas, Piano Solos, Orchestras, Vocals, Chamber Musics and Organ Solos.

Listen to her here:

PAULINE OLIVEROS - USA

Pauline Oliveros was an American composer and accordionist. She had an important role in the development of electronic art music. 

Listen to her here:

 

WENDY CARLOS - USA

Wendy Carlos is a transsexual american musician and composer known for her electronic music and film soundtracks. She made musics for A Clockwork Orange, The Shinning, Tron and others. She also made an album with the music from Bach synthesized and won three Grammy Awards! 

Listen to her here:

JENNIFER HIGDON - USA

Jennifer Higdon is an American Composer of Classical Music and a teacher. She won several prizes including a Pulitzer Prize for Music and two Grammy Awards! She met her wife in high school and they live today in Philadelphia. 

Listen to her here:

 

KRISTIN NORDERVAL - USA

Kristin Norderval is a LGBTQI+ composer and performer. She is a master in the art of improvisations - from classical music to jazz. As a composer, she tries to explore the nuances of the human voice. 

Listen to her here:

DEBORAH CHEETHAM - AUSTRALIA

Deborah Cheetam is a world-renowned Indigenous opera singer, composer, playwright and creator of Australia’s first Indigenous opera @shortblackopera, with a passion and strong commitment to improving access to careers in the arts for young Indigenous Australians.⁠

Listen do her here:

JUNE 18

SHIRLEY MIER - USA

Born 18 June

More about her here

Find scores by Shirley Mier:

RENE ORTH - USA
Born 18 June

More about her here

Find scores by Rene Orth:

 Check here last year's composers of the day

Album of the week #21: All Things Majestic, by Jennifer Higdon

Check out our new ALBUM OF THE WEEK! 

This week's choice is very special - let's celebrate PRIDE MONTH together:

All Things Majestic, by Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon is an awarded and well-known composer in the US. She won the Pulitzer prize and three Grammies, along with other honors, in her career. She learned how to play the flute herself by the age of 15 and began her former musical studies at 18, and to compose at 21. She got married to her longtime partner, Cheryl Lawson, in 2014 - they met in High School. The wedding was officiated by the conductor Marin Alsop.

Read Donne's interview with her here.

We invite you to listen and share this album - because equality should be celebrated EVERYDAY! 

Happy listening!

About the album:

Jennifer Higdon is one of the most distinguished composers working in America today, and her music is a perfect fit for the Nashville Symphony, which has long maintained a commitment to championing the country's most important voices. All Things Magestic is a four-movement suite which vividly captures the breathtaking beauty of the American landscape, and her wonderfully expressive concertos for viola and oboe bring out the unique textures and sonorities of these frequently overlooked solo instruments.

Source: Presto Music

JUNE 17

FRIEDA PEYCKE - USA
Born 17 June

More about her

Find scores by Frieda Peycke:

FÜSUN KÖKSAL - TURKEY
Born 17 June

More about her

Find scores by Füsun Köksal:

 Check here last year's composers of the day

Meet the ComposHER: Jennifer Higdon

Check out today's Meet the ComposHER interview with Jennifer Higdon!

Jennifer is an American composer and teacher. She teached herself to play flute at the age of 15 and begun formal studies at 18, starting to compose at 21. Her works represent a wide range of genres, from orchestral to chamber, to wind ensemble, as well as vocal, choral and opera.

She enjoys more than 200 performances a year of her works and her pieces have been recorded over 60 Cds.

During her carreer she has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, in 2010, 2018, and 2020. 

She was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019.

Learn more about her and her works in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

No, my youth was spent in visual arts and writing.

I didn’t start an instrument until I was 15 (which is when I learned to read music), and didn’t become interested in being a composer until I was 20.

I don’t think there is any way to point to just one person or thing (there are thousands of influences). Growing up in a household with a visual artist parent, though, may have influenced me to believe that it is possible to make a living as an artist (and that it takes a lot of discipline).

Hmmm…I don’t think there is any one thing I can point to. Every day is a challenge; being creative in today’s world is a challenge; every time I start a new piece, I immediately think that is the biggest challenge. It’s a constantly changing answer.

Varied, depending on the project. It changes with each piece that I write, because the demands are different. But the process always involves lots of imagination, fear, love, and gobs of time.

“Blue Cathedral” (my most-performed work)…a tone poem for orchestra that is a tribute to all of the individuals who cross our paths in a lifetime. It feels very much like the essence of so much I believe in in art and life.

Ellen Reid is an extraordinarily gifted composer, and a recent recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for her opera Prism. I love the color of her works, and the sound world that she achieves. This sample is “Blue’s Invitation” from her opera.

Know that everything will work out over time and that just showing up and working every day moves everything forward. And that being a composer is a real privilege and honor.

Write as much as you can. Study as many different kinds of scores as you can. Be willing to work really hard, and be honest with yourself as to the issues you encounter when you’re being creative (and even when you don’t feel creative).

I always advise composers and colleagues to be generous with others.

It sounds simple, but I feel it’s absolutely crucial to making art at the highest level. Always be willing to help or assist someone else. Always be nice. Always be professional. And always do your best.

FOLLOW JENNIFER:
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APRIL 21

LEAH KARDOS - AUSTRALIA
Born 21 April

More about her here

Find scores by Leah Kardos:

ANNA TIKHOPLAV - UKRAINE
Born 21 April

More about her here

Find scores by Anna Tikhoplav:

 Check here last year's composers of the day