Women, music and history will converge at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland on Wednesday.
Musica Antiqua of Maryland, an all-female trio specializing in historic period music and classical chamber music, will present a free concert on the eve of Women?s History Month in conjunction with the college’s chapter of the Music Educators National Conference.
Anita Avery, director, music historian, harpsichordist and pianist, founded the group in 1988 with the intention of increasing public awareness to the points in time where music meets history.
A group of stained glass panels of women saints in Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Bel Air inspired Wednesday?s performance, Avery said.
“I know there’s music that must have inspired them, that touched on the various aspects of [their] art and faith,” she said. Carolyn Horan designed the panels.
Through research, Avery developed a repertoire of religious music written by early women composers. Avery, along with group-mates Franca Barton on cello and flauto dolce, and Tatyana Karpusyuk on violin, will present a program that consists of 18 short liturgical works. Included are “Maria Dolce Maria,” written circa 1641 by Francesca Caccini, and “Herr Christ, der Ein?ge Gottes Sohn” by Elizabeth Creutiziger, the first women composer of Protestant hymns in the early 1500s.
“[Musica Antiqua?s] concerts on our campus have always focused on music by women composers,” said Christy Izdebski, associate professor of music at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. “The performances during Woman’s History Month have enhanced this focus in a beautiful way.”
The performance takes place, appropriately, in the campus? remodeled Marikle Chapel of the Annunciation, “a beautiful space with very fine acoustics,” Interim Music Chair Domenico Firmani said.
IF YOU GO
“Women of Music, Women of Faith,” Music Antiqua of Maryland
» Venue: College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Chapel of the Annunciation, 4701 N. Charles St., Baltimore
» Time: 7 p.m. Wednesday
» Tickets: Free
» More info: 410-532-5386
