A presentation by Kayleen Asbo, Ph.D.
Hildegard of Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn
Preston Hall, Mendocino, February 8, 2:30 PM
Composer, musicologist and pianist Kayleen Asbo, the acclaimed cultural historian for the Santa Rosa Symphony, will introduce us through lecture and performance to four of the most fascinating women from music history. Meet Hildegard von Bingen, a Benedictine abbess of the 12th century whose art, music and writings about nature contain revelations of wonder for our own time; Italian courtesan Barbara Strozzi, whose ravishing works for voice and lute are models of intimate sensuality; the genteel ... view more »
Composer, musicologist and pianist Kayleen Asbo, the acclaimed cultural historian for the Santa Rosa Symphony, will introduce us through lecture and performance to four of the most fascinating women from music history. Meet Hildegard von Bingen, a Benedictine abbess of the 12th century whose art, music and writings about nature contain revelations of wonder for our own time; Italian courtesan Barbara Strozzi, whose ravishing works for voice and lute are models of intimate sensuality; the genteel Fanny Mendelssohn, who was the musical colleague and soul mate of her famous brother Felix, and whose own magnificent 400+ compositions (some published under Felix’s name) are only being rediscovered and published in the past few decades.
Our afternoon ends with a performance of the music of the heroic Clara Schumann, dubbed the “High Priestess of the Piano” by Franz Liszt, a woman whose lifelong career as celebrated performer and teacher also encompassed the role of mother to eight children, muse and champion for both her beloved husband Robert Schumann and her devoted friend Johannes Brahms.
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