Virtual Concert: Featuring Women Composers!

This lesson features five women composers. Listening to and learning about their music is a small way to start investigating notable women composers.

1. Jessie Montgomery

Jessie Montgomery is a composer, violinist, and teacher. She is a native New Yorker. Jessie Montgomery explains that writing music is her "connection to the world." Listen to her string quartet, Strum, below.

LISTEN: Jessie Montgomery — Strum

Learn more: Jessie Montgomery's music and musical influences are featured in the YourClassical Music Lesson: A Trip to the Record Store.

2. Angélica Negrón

Angélica Negrón was born in Puerto Rico. She uses a lot of electronics and nontraditional instruments in her music. She has even hooked up vegetables to musical software to make music, as you can see in this video.

Listen to Pescadores, which was composed as a part of a movie soundtrack.

LISTEN: Angélica Negrón — Pescadores

Learn more: Some of Angélica Negrón's music is featured in the YourClassical Music Lesson: So Many Sound Sources.

3. Ruth Crawford Seeger

American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger lived between the years 1901-1953. Early in her career, she focused on music composition. Later in life, she spent a lot of time arranging and preserving American folk songs.

Listen to her Piano Study in Mixed Accents, below.

LISTEN — Ruth Crawford Seeger — Piano Study in Mixed Accents

Learn more: A piece of music by Ruth Crawford Seeger is featured in the YourClassical Music Lesson: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue.

4. Germaine Tailleferre

French composer Germaine Tailleferre lived between the years 1892-1983. She became a member of a thriving artistic community that flourished in Paris during the 1920s and was the only female member of a group of composers called "Les Six" (pronounced lay seese), which simply means "The Six" in French. I bet you can guess how many composers were in the group!

Listen to Germaine Tailleferre's Berceuse for Violin and Piano.

LISTEN — Germaine Tailleferre — Berceuse

Learn more: Germaine Tailleferre's music is featured in the YourClassical Music Lesson: Color in Music.

5. Caroline Shaw

Caroline Shaw is a composer and performer who likes to collaborate with musicians of all kinds, including indie rock bands and rappers.

Listen to a part of her composition Plan and Elevation.

LISTEN: Caroline Shaw — Plan & Elevation V. The Beech Tree

Learn more: The piece you just listened to is included in the YourClassical Music Lesson: Nature Walk.

6. Want more? Check out 10 contemporary women composers to add to your music rotation. During the month of March, check out the Women's History Stream on yourclassical.org.

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