Three University of Louisiana at Lafayette choirs will participate in a celebration of women in music this week.
They were chosen by the International Alliance of Women in Music to present a free concert Saturday night that includes the works of four prizewinning female composers who will visit campus. Those composers will also participate in a free panel discussion on Saturday afternoon that’s open to the public.
William Plummer, an assistant professor and director of choral activities at UL Lafayette, said being chosen to offer the international group’s concert is an honor. “It wasn’t anything we applied for. We were just very happy that they chose to have their concert here,” he said.
Previous sites for the annual event have been in the northeastern United States, Belgium and France.
The IAWM issued a call for musical scores – recently composed by women – to be performed by UL Lafayette choirs at a concert to be held Saturday at 7 p.m. in Angelle Hall. Judges made selections based solely on the submitted scores; they were not provided composers’ names until after final selections were made.
The four composers whose scores was chosen are Sivan Eldar of Berkeley, Calif., and Paris; Kari Medina of Seattle; Tawnie Olson of Canada; and L.V. Wood of Kansas City.
They will work with the UL Lafayette Chamber Singers, UL Lafayette Chorale and the Ragin' Cajun Women's Choir.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, the visiting composers will talk about their music at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette. After the 7 p.m. concert in Angelle Hall on campus, the composers will be honored at a reception.
Plummer said the events give UL Lafayette students a chance to learn about composing music from contemporary musicians. “It’s such a valuable process to be able to ask a composer a question,” he said.
“Also, it gives us a sense of vitality and currency for what we do. It’s so easy to kind of get lost in the past with music and not look forward. I think it’s a valuable opportunity to send a message that this is a very young and vivacious and vibrant occupation.”
Plummer said the choirs’ concerts are usually well attended because of their reputations for providing high-quality performances. “Every time our choirs sing together, there’s an experience to be had,” he said.
Eldar’s work has been described as "vividly imagined" by the Boston Globe. She has worked with leading ensembles, including the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and Berkeley Symphony, at diverse venues such as Boston’s Symphony Hall and Paris’ Maison de la Radio. She teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.
Olson’s music has been performed on four continents by a range of soloists and ensembles. Her composition “Scel lem duib,” commissioned for the Yale Camerata by the Yale Institute for Sacred Music, was one of three works selected out of 170 submissions for publication in the National Collegiate Choral Organization's 2013 choral music series. She is an adjunct professor of composition at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.
Medina’s choral material has been featured nationally and internationally, and her chamber piece, “The Meadow’s Wide,” was recognized as a semifinalist in 2015’s American Prize. Her film and television works include several Emmy-nominated scores for PBS productions.
Wood is a composer, performer, and conductor pursuing graduate studies in musicology at the University of Kansas. Recent performances of her music include a concert by the Cathedral Schola Cantorum of St. Joseph – Kansas City. She has conducted choirs in the United States and abroad.
The IAWM builds awareness of women’s contributions to music through a variety of ways, such as concerts, conferences, international competitions, publications, its website and advocacy.
Shown: UL Lafayette Chorale