ECHO Rising Stars Festival / Guðmundsdóttir / Lahiry / A Powerful Voice of Women - NOSPR

The charismatic soprano Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir is coming to us from the North, bringing with her an evocation of those northern landscapes so powerfully embedded in the music of Jean Sibelius. It was Sibelius who once saw a flock of sixteen swans circling above his head, an experience that gave rise to one of his symphonies. The swan, as a symbol of gentleness, beauty, and nobility, recurs in the songs selected for this concert.

The most strongly represented theme here is the female voice: Judith Weir, who speaks of a world marked by war and death through the words of a traditional Yoruba poem; Lyra Pramuk, whose idiom is rooted in the spirit of futuristic folk; and Errollyn Wallen, who moves with astonishing ease between the genres of classical music, folk, and jazz. In addition to the above, the concert will also feature the voices of many other female composers from the past, whose songs may not yet have been heard in NOSPR.

Adam Suprynowicz

Concert duration: approximately 70 minutes