happy womxn, dah

celebrating womxn composers

Dear e-reader,

Alors, ça gaze ou gazouille comme les oiseaux à l’approche du printemps?

Breaking news (a day too late): yesterday was women’s day. Each year, my opinion on this topic shifts: some years, I feel like boycotting the whole thing, other years, I just wanna support the concept to the max. Here is my (subjective) truth:I wish we celebrated womxn every single day. The 1/365 ratio is simply ridiculous, nonsensical. Not to mention the once-in-a-year-bouquet-to-please-the-ladies. Come on: every sentient beings on this planet should receive flowers every single day. And deep respect. Elémentaire mon cher Watson.

But the cool thing about Women’s day is that it’s a great occasion to share the works of artists who have been precious companions in my music & life. So, for your enjoyment and mine, here a list of works written by

1. experimental music (perhaps slightly contemporary)

2. womxn¹

3. composers or musician-composers (sound artists/bands for another time)

4. who write incredibly beautiful music, acoustic and/or electronic

5. who mostly don’t stream on the mainstream

6. but still have some music on bandcamp (= an incentive for those who don’t have their music there: upload it)²

7. who are in their 30s

Why womxen in their 30s you may ask? First, a disclaimer: I don’t & will never assume that things are/get easier before or after your 30s. That being said, I’m focusing on this specific category of composers because well, I’m one of them, and I have the feeling we are on all fronts. We face the difficulties to get our pieces or research funded/supported at the time where we need it most, we try to pierce through the rigidity of institutional narrow-mindedness (= the persistent lack of recruitment of womxn composers in music education), we often relocate across of the continent to pursue a paid PhD to try to mitigate the precariousness of our condition, we may experience motherhood and/or multidimensional and/or multigenerational caregiving—whether with a partner, without one, with friends & family nearby, or not— and we continuously fight against self-doubt, among many other challenges. If this sounds like an impossible equation, well, I’m not gonna lie: it does feel impossible at times, and isolating. In fact, some of these issues tend to remain invisible, as so few of them have the time, space, or resources to openly speak about them.

Punaise quoué. Punaise.

And yet.

AND YET MY FRIENDS.

Truly against all odds, like the actual dragons that we are, we keep

showing up, focusing, smiling, going at our desk, being curious, facing walls, playing, presenting, plugging in, offering, blanking, analyzing, loosening up, cabling, scheduling, writing, singing, scratching, scrolling, recording, standing, curating, laughing, programming, dedicating, reading, walking, amplifying, listening, losing, bowing, silencing, looking away, theorizing, erasing, imagining, zooming in, engaging, brushing off, releasing, loving, explaining, receiving, well: music-ing.

Gosh, let’s pause for a minute and celebrate each other. These daily victories have created so much beauty for ourselves and others.

ZE (très short) LIST

That’s the reason why I made this (absolutely non-exhaustive) list. Disclaimer 2: it’s almost funny that it’s so short (i.e.: lack of time, space & resources), but it’s also already a mega sweet treat. Mostly, this list is just a prompt to continue to make it grow, through your contributions and mines.

How to use it: a) the list being in alphabetical order, go until the end of the post b) consider buying the music of these artists to support their works — know this will make a huge difference for them c) contribute by suggesting additions to the list by leaving a comment or msg d) say hi to them here or on their Bandcamp — they will surely appreciate it.

• Clara de Asís & Rebecca Lane with Sarah Saviet, Deborah Walker — all extraordinarily talented and intelligent composer-musicians, the combo is magical. Sending love to them all.

• Ellen Arkbro — I mean, what can I say. Ellen’s crystal-clear approach to sound has shaped the experimental music forever. She managed to keep her musical integrity intact over the years, and her humility is proportional to her talent.

• Pluto Bell — I’ve loved their music since forever. Underground LA music, so, so well written, polished like little diamonds. Bonus: they’ve done very funny Animal Crossing concerts during Covid— a highlight

• Katrina Burch — I’ve mentioned them in a previous post — do read it to find out about Katrina’s deep commitment and extraordinary trajectory.

• Victoria Cheah — aaaah beautiful music and approach to timbre. Please also do listen to her piece I watched Her Smile Her Hand.

• Pan Daijing — Pan is simultaneously a star and a spy, under the radar. More importantly, she’s totally aligned. Her performances are mind-blowing and radical in their meticulousness and power.

• Jessica Ekomane — hands down to one of the most inspiring computer-composers I know. Her multichannel works are not only effective but often evoke, as described in Manifolds notes, “a chant of overwhelming humanity”.

• Marta Forsberg — I've been following Marta’s work for a while and her work is blossoming, perhaps especially recently. She does many stuff: electronic live sets, electroacoustic pieces, and more recently voice pieces (luv the one below)

• Judith Hamann — cellist, composer, singer (+ karaoke master) — her voice is WOW and so is her sound on the cello. I’m counting the days until the release of her next album:

• Amina Hocine — super cool electroacoustic composer and instrument builder, working with customized organ pipes & tuning

• Charmaine Lee — a wild composer & improviser; able to bend her voice and mouth in unexplainable ways that give you goosebumps. Also highly recommend her early works.

• Clara Lévy — a truly amazing musician, with an unbelievable stable sound and ears. Just stunning work. Go see her play if you have the chance to do so. Also admiring her fearlessness and eloquence, in all areas of life

• Giulia Rae — another aaaamazing computer-composer focusing on ‘immersive-ness’ as an underlying concept of her music. Giulia’s music is soft —but never weak, enveloping and deeply poetic. And the programming part of her pieces is super clever. Bellissima Giulia

• Emer, alias Marija Rasa Kudabaitė — In 2 words: Marija rocks. She writes sensational, beaaaautiful electronic music, with such a rare level of details, care & precision for each sound in her pieces. Cherry on top of the cake: her breakfasts are the best ❤️

• Jules Reidy — I luuuuuv their multifaceted works, and their approach to the guitar is crazy + masterful: electric, acoustic, retuned, with 100 strings, you name it, they do it all. Stephan Kunze wrote a great itw with them, check it out here:

  Jules Reidy: A Space That You're Allowed Inside

• Ángeles Rojas — totally fascinating how Ángeles’ music unfolds from her beautiful, poetically open scores. The delicacy of the material is maximal and yes, her kindness shines through. How cool.

• Germaine Sijstermans — awesome clarinettist, performer and composer, a beautiful multifaceted practice and pieces. Each time she’s programmed in a concert, you can be sure it’s gonna be a good one

• Zeynep Toraman — again, an incredibly gifted composer and bright researcher. Her craft with instrumentation and harmony is beyond refined, and yeah, brilliant. I cannot wait to see her music continue to blossom as she enters the next chapter of her life. Much love

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As I said, the list is short & meant to grow, so feel most welcome to join me in this endeavor. I send much gratitude to all the people mentioned in this list: power to you and the changes you continuously bring in this world through your music.

love, to everyone

Lucie

1. i.e. a broader spectrum of gender identities, including cis women, trans women, nb & queer individuals, + others who identify with womanhood. In all honesty, I haven’t asked if the artists I’ve included in my list would agree with this category but that seemed like the most adequate with what what I know of them

2. Calling out (list again not exhaustive) : Kim Ho, Amarante Nat, Myrtó Nizami, etc