Classical pianist Sarah Cahill's project, "The Future is Female," not only lives up to its name in highlighting the work of contemporary women composers, but also demonstrates that classical music's past is a lot more female than listeners may realize, too.
Cahill performs selections from her wide-ranging project in a virtual concert for Mountain View's Community School of Music and Arts on March 20, 7 p.m.
"The Future is Female" marks the 100th anniversary in 2020 of the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave some women in the United States the right to vote. But as Cahill explains in an introductory video posted on her website, the project also aims to explore beyond the well-known classical canon, which is all male composers.
"Of course we all love Bach and Beethoven and Mozart, but it always made me wonder what women are out there, what women have been out there for centuries in the Baroque era, the Romantic era, the Classical era," Cahill says in the video.
"The Future is Female" features 60 pieces by women composers from around the world who have written compositions for piano from 1707 to the present day, including newly commissioned works.
Cahill's performance for the Community School of Music and Arts focuses on music from the 19th and early 20th centuries, by composers from several European countries, the United States and Venezuela. The program features works by Hélène de Montgeroult; Clara Schumann; Teresa Carreño; Amy Beach; Vítězslava Kaprálová; and Margaret Bonds.
For information about Cahill's performance at Community School of Music and Arts, visit arts4all.org.
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