Historical chamber recital to launch Brandeis ‘Women and Music Project’
Vivian Montgomery
"Fortepiano & Friends: Female and Male Composers in the Mix, 1750-1850"
Featuring mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal, fortepianist Vivian Montgomery and period winds
Sunday, March 1
3 p.m.
Slosberg Music Center
WALTHAM, Mass. – On Sunday, March 1, the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC) at Brandeis will host the inaugural event of the center’s “Women and Music Project.” In a recital that weaves the works of noted female composers with their male contemporaries, WSRC scholar and fortepianist Vivian Montgomery, mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal, period clarinetist Diane Heffner and period flutist Na’ama Lion will present a bold rendering of classical and early romantic chamber and vocal compositions. Featuring period winds and Brandeis's newly acquired Viennese fortepiano, the program includes spirited music by Helene Montgeroult, Louis Spohr, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Mozart and Maddalena Sirmen.
“Our aim with the Women and Music Project is to present events that highlight the extraordinary musical work of women through the centuries,” says Vivian Montgomery. “We want to offer audible evidence of their ingenious contributions to art for the concert stage as well as more confined contexts. What better way to initiate this project than to ‘mainstream’ the bold, original sounds of 18th and 19th-century females amidst the music of Mozart and Mendelssohn.”
The March 1 recital is free and open to the public. For more information about the event, or the Women and Music Project, call 617-223-1627 or email montgovi@brandeis.edu
About the Women’s Studies Research Center
The WSRC identifies itself as a place where research, art and activism converge. Bringing together scholars, students, and artists, the WSRC is a community that thrives on the sharing of knowledge and ideas. The WSRC is home to the Kniznick Gallery, the only exhibition space in New England devoted to the display of women's art and/or art about gender. The WSRC is located at 515 South St. in Waltham, Mass. For more information, call 781-736-8100 or visit go.brandeis.edu/wsrc.
About Vivian Montgomery
Vivian Montgomery, harpsichordist and fortepianist, holds prizes from numerous international early keyboard competitions and was the recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She earned her Master of Music in Early Keyboards from the University of Michigan, and completed the DMA in Early Music from Case Western Reserve University in 2007. She has been a part of numerous musical collaborations, including the dynamic recorder and harpsichord ensemble Galhano/Montgomery Duo and the ensemble Cecilia’s Circle, and performed concerto solos and solo recitals at many venues. As a conductor, Vivian has served as Music Director for the Minneapolis-based baroque opera company Ex Machina and as director of the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music Baroque Orchestra. Since 2003, she has been on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, teaching harpsichord and historical performance practice. She also served as a visiting faculty member at Dickinson College in 2004-5, directing the Collegium as well as teaching music history and Women's Studies. In 2008-09, Vivian is a Visiting Scholar at the Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center, and is supported by a fellowship from the American Association of University Women.
