Now more than ever, the national conversation is centering on the role of women in the creative arts. In the classical music world, leading new music ensembles program only 8-22% of music by women.
SopraDuo was accepted to perform Emma Logan's music at this year's Music by Women Festival in Mississippi, an annual festival dedicated to the subject of music composed, taught, and performed by women.
Our goal is to come away with concrete ideas and plans to close the gender programming gap.
SopraDuo and Emma Logan at The Music by Women Festival
Meet SopraDuo and Emma Logan
SopraDuo (Alexandra Iranfar, guitar and soprano & Timothy Sherren, guitar) is a unique ensemble dedicated to expanding the repertoire of music for two guitars and voice. Emma Logan is a Bay Area composer and curator of music, whose interests include presenting music by women. We recently commissioned Emma Logan to write us a song cycle based on the poetry of Sara Teasdale.
We were accepted to perform Emma's song cycle at this year’s Music by Women Festival in Mississippi. We are very excited for the three day festival of performances, lectures, workshops all focusing on music by women. This year’s festival couldn’t come at a better time, as the national conversation centers on the role of women in the creative arts.
Impact
- Leading new music ensembles are programming only 8-22 percent of music by women, according to an article from New Music Box. This is a problem not only for women composers, but also for the performers and audience members who are missing untold musical voices.
- The responsibility shouldn’t only be given to women to advocate for themselves. It's up to everyone to listen and join the conversation.
- We hope the further that conversation in Mississippi, and come away with concrete ideas and plans to close the gender programming gap.
What We Need & What You Get
- Your support will help fund our travel and stay in Mississippi for the Music by Women Festival, which takes place March 1-3.
- We have perks for all levels, including a personalized thank you on our Facebook and Instagram, SopraDuo’s unreleased CD, which features Emma Logan’s music, and even a house concert by SopraDuo!
Challenges & Successes
- Fundraising is always a challenge. Musicians rarely like advocating for themselves, especially when it comes to talking about money. However, we feel this is an extremely important cause, not just to us, but for everyone in the performing arts world.
- We have met large fundraising goals in the past, including grant awards, as well as commissioning new instruments and music from composers. If we do not meet this flexible goal, the funding will still go towards our travel expenses.
Other Ways You Can Help
Help us meet our goal by sharing this Indiegogo campaign with others!
Thank you, and see you in Mississippi!
