Maestras Unveiled – Women Composers of the Baroque on KALW’s Voicebox
On Friday December 17, San Francisco radio station KALW will broadcast a program devoted to music by women composers of the 17th century anticipating Magnificat’s performance February 4-6 of music by four remarkable women composers. Those concerts will feature soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani, whose recordings will feature prominently in the Voicebox program as well.
Over the past decade Magnificat has taken a special interest in music written by women during the Baroque such as Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Isabella Leonarda, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini. Warren Stewart, the artistic director of Magnificat, joins VoiceBox host Chloe Veltman for a discussion about how these composers practiced their art in the face of cultural restrictions on the creative expression of women and produced eloquent masterpieces.
The program includes performances of Cozzolani’s Magnificat Primo and Laudate Dominum; Barbara Strozzi’s O Maria, Isabella Leonarda’s setting of Lætatus sum; and two excerpts from Francesca Caccini’s opera La Liberazione di Ruggiero. Voicebox airs from 10:00-11:00 pm and will be available in streaming audio through KALW’s music player for a week after the broadcast on December 10.