Radio
BBC Radio 3: Composer of the Week: Florence Price
Monday 2 – Friday 6 March, 12pm
Florence Price was a highly successful classical composer, organist, pianist and music teacher during the early 20th century in America. She was the first African-American woman to be recognised as a composer of symphonic music, and also the first African-American woman to have her works performed by one of the world’s leading orchestras.
Donald Macleod explores how racial prejudice and marriage impacted her life and career.
BBC Radio 3: The Essay – Women Writers to put back on the Bookshelf
Monday 2 March, 10.45pm
Seven Ages of Woman puts the case for five female writers who deserve to be better known: English poet Charlotte Smith, Renaissance poet Lady Mary Wroth, Scottish novelist Margaret Oliphant, English jounalist Storm Jameson and Rwandan writer Yolande Mukagasana.
BBC Radio 3: The Seven Ages of Woman
Sunday 8 March, 1pm
Radio 3 has commissioned seven very different composers to write a movement each of an a cappella choral work entitled Seven Ages of Woman. Rhian Samuel, Helena Paish, Francophile Heather Dohollau, Deirdre Gribbin, Emily Hall, Electra Perivolaris and Cecilia McDowall. Each composer has chosen to set a text that they feel represents them and this decade of their lives – from Charlotte Brontë to a poem by commissioned composer Deirdre Gribbin’s son, who has Down’s syndrome.
BBC Radio 3: Inside Music – Creative connections with fiddle-singer and composer Nancy Kerr
Saturday 7 March, 1pm
Nancy Kerr is a multi-award winning violinist, singer and songwriter, who brings her own individual interpretations to traditional folk material, combining folk mythology with tales of 21st-century life. She chooses pieces that highlight the connections between wildly different musical styles - ranging from Bartok dances, played first by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, to the Romani group Taraf De Haïdouks.
- 5 of the best works by Clara Schumann
- 6 of the most inspiring women in music
- Classical music's rule breakers
BBC Radio 3: Private Passions – Women Composers Compilation
Sunday 8 March, 12pm
Michael Berkeley draws together some previous Private Passions guests who have championed works by women. Helen Cammock introduces the 17th-century composer Barbara Strozzi, while actor Greta Scacchi discovers the 18th-century composer Maria Cosway.
BBC Radio 3: The Early Music Show – Composer Profile: Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
Sunday 8 March, 2pm
Lucie Skeaping looks into the life and music of French Baroque composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, who, from the age of five, served at the court of Louis XIV.
BBC Radio 3: The Listening Service – The music of Kaija Saariaho
Sunday 8 March, 5pm
Tom Service takes a journey through the beguiling sound world of Kaija Saariaho, exploring the way she fuses operas, orchestral and instrumental works with electronic and acoustic sounds.
BBC Radio 3: Words and Music – Goddesses and Monsters
Sunday 8 March, 5.30pm
An exploration of music by woman and non-binary authors and composers, diving into the worlds from Medusa to the Madonna.
- 9 of the best contemporary female composers
- 19 of today's top women conductors
- Some of the best works by composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth
Live Performances
Southbank Centre: SoundState Festival
24-28 February
In the return of the major global new music festival, lined-up are UK premieres by Sofia Gubaidulina and the Franco-American composer Betsy Jolas. Full programme to be announced, including appearances from American flautist Claire Chase and British-Iranian experimental composer and turntable artist Shiva Feshareki.
8 March, 1.15pm
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff
The London Chamber Ensemble celebrates International Women’s Day with a concert featuring 100 years of British music by female composers, including the world premiere of a new work by Errolyn Wallen, and music by Rebecca Clarke, Helen Grime, Judith Weir and Thea Musgrave. Rarely performed music that was almost destroyed by its composer Grace Williams will also be performed.
- A guide to Fanny Mendelssohn's music
- 10 female composers you should know
- The women who broke music's glass ceiling