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From lower left, clockwise: Jessie Montgomery, Mead Composer-in-Residence; composer-instrumentalist Nicole Mitchell; Missy Mazzoli, Mead Composer-in-Residence, 2018-2021; Erina Yashima, CSO Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprentice, 2016-2019.
This March, we look back at the previous year of CSO Sessions virtual concerts to highlight the women composers and conductors who have shared their talents and artistry with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its audiences.
The women showcased on this CSO Sessions video playlist consist of Courtney Bryan, Missy Mazzoli, Amanda Harberg, Jessie Montgomery, Gabriella Ortiz, Florence Price, Nicole Mitchell and Erina Yashima.
Full performances of these works can be streamed via the CSOtv platform, now free with registration.
Florence Price, Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, Episode 14
Regarded as the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, Florence Price weaves familiar spiritual melodies into her technically challenging Five Folksongs in Counterpoint.
Jessie Montgomery, Strum, Episode 15
Strum, a string quintet by acclaimed New York-based composer and the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery, is an expansive work that draws upon American folk melodies and the spirit of dance and movement.
Amanda Harberg, Hall of Ghosts, Episode 16
In a collaboration conceived by CSO Piccolo Jennifer Gunn and featuring Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Alyssa Allen, this performance of Amanda Harberg’s Hall of Ghosts imagines the dancer as a ghost with the piccolo’s haunting voice calling music back to the empty stage.
Missy Mazzoli, Volume, Episode 20
Former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Missy Mazzoli’s Volume pays homage to the steelpan-drum tradition, and features an unusual instrumentation including vibraphones and wine bottles tuned to various pitches.
Nicole Mitchell, Cult of Electromagnetic Connectivity, Episode 21
Legendary Chicago flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell offers a kinetic musical vision of ethereal beings from an alternate dimension in Cult of Electromagnetic Connectivity, a newly commissioned work for quintet that received its world premiere on CSO Sessions Episode 21.
Courtney Bryan, Requiem, Episode 22
Blending elements of end-of-life rituals from cultures around the world, Courtney Bryan’s Requiem offers a powerful and evocative musical meditation to conclude a season of streamed performances.
Gabriela Ortiz, Denibée-Yucañana, Episode 23
Inspired by the works of painter Rufino Tamayo, composer Gabriela Ortiz channels the folkloric musical traditions of her native Mexico in her rhythmic, jazz-infused trio Denibée-Yucañana.
Erina Yashima in Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Episode 26
The CSO’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprentice from 2016 to 2019, Erina Yashima leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Franz Schubert’s lilting Symphony No. 5, performed at concerts celebrating the return of in-person audiences to Symphony Center in June 2021.
