Women’s history month celebrated with concert by female faculty members

Abhigya Ghimire The month of March is celebrated as Women’s History Month all around the world, and to participate in the festivities, the female faculty of the music department were featured in a concert last Friday night. Upon learning of the month’s importance, Rachel Nozny, an adjunct music instructor, wanted to spread awareness of it. “As soon as I started pitching the idea of a women’s concert to other faculty members, it became obvious there would be a lot of support for a concert,” Nozny said. The concert, held on March 1, started at 7 p.m. and featured performances from Nozny and other various faculty members, such as Jillian Camwell, an adjunct oboe professor, Hui-Ting Yang, an associate professor of piano, and Diane Orlofsky, professor of music education, among others. The program included the performance of various musical pieces like “Shenanigans” by Nicole Chamberlain, “Lullaby” by Jennifer Higdon, “Northern Scenes for Piano” by Chen Yi, “La Rue Chagrin” by Germaine Taielleferre and “Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano” by Madeleine Dring. “I just think its very important for the students to have a good representation of seeing their female faculty members and composers represented in a way that are not as represented in standard concerts,” Camwell said. The event helped to put the focus on female composers all around the world. “It’s important to hear works by women composers because the vast majority of pieces are (composed by) male composers, and there is a large bridge repertoire out there from women,” Orlofsky said. “I think that musical voice needs to be heard.” While all the faculty members were focused on highlighting the work from women composers, Yang helped to include the musical composition from Chinese composers. “When I heard the idea of celebrating women history, and since the performers were all female, I thought it would be a great idea to introduce American people to Chinese composers,” Yang said. Yang performed alongside Ming Wei, a senior accounting major from China, who gave a visual art performance. The performance consisted of a painting done along with the musical piece. “I thought it was really interesting. The different arrays and styles of music that were presented on the program; they all contrasted from one other and were all individual in their own certain way,” said Cameron Duncan, a sophomore music industry major from Prattville. The concert was preceded by a Women’s History Month discussion, which Nozny said was also “well attended.” “Everyone was very supportive of each other; the pre-concert talk and concert were well attended, and the performances were compelling and musical,” Nozny said. “ I could not have asked for a better evening.” This was the first time the Women’s History Month concert was held at Troy University. “The concert was a huge collaborative effort, and I hope it becomes an annual event,” Nozny said. “There is a great wealth of female art out there that men and women should be supporting,” said Camwell.