To celebrate the artistry of women composers, the Nazareth University School of Music is hosting the third annual Women in Music Festival, March 7 through 10, at Nazareth and Buffalo State University, featuring Composer-in-Residence Lori Laitman, the Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic under the direction of Nancy Strelau, and faculty and student performers from area colleges. Festival events and activities include concerts, master classes, panel discussions, and a film screening at the Little Theatre, all of which will serve as a catalyst for purposeful dialogue, future collaborations, and engaging performances for the Rochester and Buffalo communities.
Highlights of the 2024 Festival include:
•Concert with Nazareth Faculty and Students and Guest Performers at 6:00 p.m. on March 9 in the Wilmot Recital Hall at Nazareth. Featuring works by Laitman and other women composers, and performances by students and faculty from SUNY Buffalo State, Eastman School of Music, Nazareth University, SUNY Onondaga Community College, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
•Festival Concert In the Company of Women at 3 p.m. on March 10 in Nazareth’s Beston Hall, featuring Nazareth School of Music faculty and the Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic performing world premieres by Laitman and her daughter, composer Diana Rosenblum, featuring mezzo-soprano Katie Hannigan. WXXI Classical 91.5 FM’s Mona Seghatoleslami is the concert MC. There will be a pre-concert talk at 2:15 p.m. moderated by Seghatoleslami with Strelau, Laitman and Rosenblum
Visit http://go.naz.edu/Women-in-music for the full Festival schedule. All but two of the events are free, and all are open to the public.
Described by Fanfare Magazine as, “one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers,” Lori Laitman has composed operas, choral works, and hundreds of songs setting texts by classical and contemporary poets, including those who perished in the Holocaust. Her music is widely performed throughout the world and has generated substantial critical acclaim.
The 2024 Women in Music Festival is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.
The events at Nazareth University are co-sponsored by the School of Music, the Office for Diversity & Inclusive Excellence Education, Weider Community Engagement Office, the Center for Spirituality, Naz Composition Club, and the Intersectional Feminist Alliance.
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