Pulitzer Prize winning poet and novelist Margaret Widdemer's early feminist poems dealing with sexual abuse, war, and human rights are still compellingly relevant today. Composer Juliana Hall was commissioned to set the poems to music by the Seattle Art Song Society; they premiered in March 2019 on a program celebrating womxn's voices. "When commissioning Hall, SASS wasn't content to just have the premiere in Seattle...in this time of #MeToo and women's rights being front and center in culture, Hall's song cycle--with its powerful settings of American poet Margaret Widdemer's social justice texts--had the possibility to bring an important message to people beyond Seattle. His idea developed into a 'women's march' across the country...a project to have Hall's new songs performed in all 50 states after the premiere, bringing Hall's settings and Widdemer's poems to all of the US! To that end, Armbrust has enlisted more than 170 mezzo-sopranos from all 50 states (and many foreign countries as well), each of whom will get an early look at the score with the option to participate in the project. Singers will participate in
Beyond the Guarded Gate, by agreeing to perform the song cycle on a recital between March 2019 and December 2019 following the official SASS world premiere. E. C. Schirmer is providing each singer and pianist taking part in
Beyond the Guarded Gate with a complimentary digital copy of the work for use in the performance."
Runtime: 30 minutesMore information on these pieces can be found here:
https://ecspublishing.com/blog/art-songs-womens-rights/Monica Szabo-Nyeste, mezzosopranoEva Mengelkoch, pianoIndividual tickets available
