26 July 2012

Where Are They? Part II

A discussion of American women opera composers.

Where Are They?

Part II

Have you ever heard of Libby Larsen, Alice Shields, Missy Mazzoli, Anne Le Baron, Victoria Bond, Ann Gebuhr, Nancy Van de Vate, Veronika Krausas, Justine Chen, Karen Griebling, Carol Barnett, or Sorrel Hays?  This list could include dozens more names of American women composers who have written operas, many of them large-scale works which have been publicly performed. 

Thus, it is somewhat baffling that usopera.com, which describes itself as “the web’s foremost site on opera by American composers,” includes none of the names above.  When I first saw the site several years ago, it included only three names of women who had composed operas: Amy Beach, Mary Carr Moore, and Deborah Drattell.  Since then several of my colleagues have submitted lists of their operas, but they are not yet included.

It does seem a shame, at least to this composer, that Webmaster Christopher Hapka devotes so much time and effort to helping women opera composers remain anonymous.  Any suggestions, Good Readers?

 

 

Comments

Log in to post a comment