March is Women’s History Month, and this Wednesday at 9 p.m., we will celebrate women in classical music with a Virginia connection on “A Local Touch.” Raymond Jones presents “A Song of Survival,” the story of women and children in a Japanese concentration camp in 1942 who survived through music – a “vocal orchestra” for the prisoners. Cindy Freeman leads the Williamsburg Women’s Chorus and Choraliers in a program featuring music from Bach and Mozart to Beethoven and Chopin, paying homage to the power of music in dark times.
From the historic Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, we’ll hear a selection of organ and choral pieces performed by The Bruton Capella, conducted by Rebecca Davy, with JanEl Will on the organ. The program includes “Arise in Beauty,” “O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song,” and “Listen, Sweet Dove.”
We will also enjoy JoAnn Falletta’s exceptional conducting as she takes the stage to lead the Texas Festival Orchestra in Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, with pianist James Dick as soloist. And we will also feature Suite for String Orchestra and Piano by Richmond native Mary Howe, performed by the Chamber Arts Society Quartet DC with pianist Emerson Meyers.
Finally, we’ll wrap up the evening with music inspired by “The Belle of Amherst,” the great poet Emily Dickinson, in a stirring performance by Art Song of Williamsburg.
Raymond Jones will be your host for this evening filled with music inspired, performed, and created by extraordinary women with ties to Virginia. Don’t miss “A Local Touch” this Wednesday at 9 p.m. on WHRO-FM 90.3, or listen online via the Media Player.
