Celebrating the music and stories of female composers 

“Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?” So pondered Clara  Schumann, remembered as one of the finest pianists of all time.  

In “Wonder Women!”, pianist Sarah Hagen delves into the remarkable stories and piano music  of forgotten female composers from the classical repertoire. This recital will highlight piano  works by 18th and 19th century composers, including Clara Schumann, Cécile Chaminade,  Delphine von Schauroth, and others. Included will be stunningly gorgeous music by Marianna  Martines, who lived in the same circles as Haydn and Mozart, and often joined Mozart in piano  duets at the musical soirées she and her sister held in their Viennese home. 

A note from the performer:  

I began performing this programme after purchasing a disappointingly thin volume of music by  female composers about 20 years ago. After reading through the music, I remember shutting  the book and thinking to myself, There must be more music than this, and certainly more music  of a better quality!. I simply didn’t feel the collection fairly represented the music that had been  created by women during the 18th and 19th centuries. So I set off on a musical treasure hunt,  searching online, through old collections of music, and in libraries. I have found that good  music is getting easier to find as scholars take more of an interest in researching these  remarkable women. So, I am constantly refreshing the programme!  

I am also continually fascinated by the stories of the strong women behind the music. These  are the women who fought for equal pay as their male colleagues, who insisted that they could  also have a life and a career outside of the kitchen, who chose to shockingly forgo marriage to  be able to fully focus on their art. These are the trailblazers who are an invaluable part of our  journey to gender equality.  

I have especially found that high school students are particularly interested in hearing these  stores. Somehow hearing the music makes the stories of female strength and resilience come  to life for the students in an inspiring way.