Changing Light – Music for International Women’s Day

Changing Light is a special celebration of International Women’s Day, honoring remarkable composers from across the globe. Curated by UC San Diego Distinguished Professor of Music Susan Narucki, the hour-long program is a constellation of exquisitely crafted vocal chamber music rarely heard in the United States. Narucki is joined on the program by superb guest artists Kirsten Ashley Wiest, coloratura soprano, Alex Greenbaum, cello, and Alexander Ishov, flute, which takes place at the UC San Diego Department of Music’s Conrad Prebys Concert Hall on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 7 p.m.
The program also focuses on works which create a unique fusion of poetry and music which explore the seemingly endless expressive potential of the singing voice. Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, now in her nineties, has written an astonishing array of powerful works, from large scale symphonic and choral works to intimate, eclectic chamber music.  Her Letter to Rimma Dalos for voice and cello is a tribute to the great Russian poet.
German-American composer Ursula Mamlok was an essential voice in the modernist New York scene of the mid 20th century as well as an important teacher of composition.  With exquisite attention to balance in form and attuned to fine gradations of instrumental and vocal color, her Stray Birds, for coloratura soprano, flute and cello, are jewel-like settings of poems of Rabindranath Tagore.
Columbian born composer Alba Potes’ distinctive music combines beautifully defined formal structures, with a subtle underpinning of Latin American traditional music.  One of Mamlok’s most distinguished mentees, Potes’ moving TRINOS, commissioned by Narucki, will be performed by Narucki and Wiest to poems by Javier Tafur Gonzalez, in its world premiere performance
The late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho was one of music’s most important composers, writing exceptional music in the genres of opera, chamber music, choral works and music combination with electronics.  We honor her by presenting her iconic From the Grammar of Dreams for two sopranos and her Changing Light for soprano and cello, a gentle prayer for grace and serenity.
Join us for an evening of remarkable music created by exceptional women.