A panel discussion with Patricia Kleinman (Projecto CompositorAs), Amy Kyle (Sorbonne Université), Nicole Leone and Randi Marrazzo (A Modern Reveal). Moderated by Isabel Pérez Dobarro (London Performing Academy of Music).

Friday, October 15, 2021, 2:30pm - EST
This event was in ENGLISH with captioning.

Pauline Viardot-Garcia (Paris, 1821-1910) was a central figure on the European opera scene of the 19th century. Daughter of the famous tenor Manuel García, and the soprano Joaquina Sitches, Pauline Viardot-Garcia conquered European audiences in her own right, was labeled a “Genius” by critics, with a career spanning a vast repertoire of roles and styles, and developed in parallel, an intense compositional and pedagogical activity which lasted until the end of her long life.

Panelists discussed Pauline Viardot-García’s life and works, her Spanish influences, and her social and gender status as a multifaceted composer and performer in 19th-century European society.

Dr. Isabel Pérez Dobarro has performed in the United States, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, as well as in her native Spain, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow, Palau de la Música, Sala Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Fundación Juan March, among others. She is a prize-winner of the American Protegé International Competition, Grand Prize Virtuoso International, Cidade de Fundao, and Ciutat de Berga International Competition. She has bowed as a soloist with the Braga Philharmonic Orchestra, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, and Orquesta Sinfónica Solidaria de Barcelona, among others. She holds a Ph.D. from New York University, where she was Adjunct Instructor at the age of 19; she also holds a Professional Studies Degree from Manhattan School of Music, a Master’s Degree from New York University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid. Recently she was appointed as Visiting Professor at the London Performing Academy of Music.

Patricia Kleinman is an Argentine musicologist and the founder and director of the initiative Proyecto CompositorAs, an organization dedicated to the recuperation of unpublished works by women composers, as well as its performance arm, the vocal sextet “Proyecto CompositorAs”. She is a member of the Spanish Society of Musicology, where she forms part of the research groups “Studies in Gender of Women and Music” and “Music and American Studies”. She is also a member of the Society of Theory and Musical Analysis. She has conducted the modern-day premieres as well as realized first editions of works by Pauline Viardot-García for Hildegard Publishing. She has brought to light with both performances and editions other female composers, including Johanna Kinkel, María Rodrigo, Paulina Cabrero, and Adela Anaya. Her work includes world premieres of contemporary female composers, such as Marisa Manchado, Sonia MegÍas, Beatriz Arzamendi and Ana Silva.

Amy Kyle began a doctorate at the Faculty of Letters Sorbonne University in November 2017 in Musicology. She completed her BA in Music Education and Choral Singing with a vocal focus at Brigham Young University in Utah. She obtained a Masters in Vocal Music and Music History with a Master’s thesis on the compositions of the American composer Amy MC Beach. She worked as a professor of Music Theory and Music Training at the University of Utah. During this time, Amy sang with the Utah Opera Choir. She also worked with school children to create small operas for which she wrote music.

Randi Marrazzo, founder of A Modern Reveal, enjoys a rich musical life as a performer and voice teacher at Temple University. In the 1980s, she began working with Sylvia Glickman, founder of Hildegard Publishing Company, and Martha Furman Schleifer, both editors of _Women Composers: Music Through the A_ges. Professor Marrazzo compiled songs for publication at Hildegard and also edited a series of art songbooks for the young singer entitled, The First Solos: Songs by Women Composers. She holds degrees in Music Education from the University of Delaware and a Master’s in Music from Catholic University. She spent two years studying opera at The Curtis Institute of Music. She has sung leading roles with the New York City Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Mississippi Opera, Opera Delaware, Sarasota Opera, and Pennsylvania Opera Theater.

Nicole Leone has sung throughout New York City and Philadelphia as a soloist in opera, concert, and recital. She is an ardent supporter of women composers and contemporary classical music and is passionate about promoting the stories and voices of rarely studied and under-appreciated female composers. Nicole and Randi Marrazzo have worked for more than a year to create A Modern Reveal as a means through which to share the music of talented and tenacious female composers in an accessible and engaging way. Nicole holds an M.M. in Voice Performance from Temple University and a B.A. in Economics from New York University. She currently resides in New York City where she freelances as a musician and consultant.

Excerpts of music played:

1. Pauline Viardot-García, Caña española, for voice and piano. Performers: Anna Tonna and Isabel Pérez Dobarro.

2. María Malibrán (Viardot-García’s sister), Rataplán, for voice, fortepiano and guitar. Performers: Anna Tonna and Duo Savigni.

3. Pauline, Viardot-García, ¡Alza! ¡Pepita!, for solo piano. Performer: Isabel Pérez Dobarro.