Thursday Scholarship Series honors Women's History Month

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the faculty, students and alumni of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music bring to the stage Woman to Woman, the next performance in the Thursday Scholarship Series, set for Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall.

“Women’s history will come alive in this concert,” says faculty member and harpist Monica Hargrave, who decided last year she wanted to present a concert during Women’s History Month that would showcase UGA faculty and students – performers and composers at a local and global level. “These women play a vital role in our lives with their contributions, dreams, and accomplishments,” says Hargrave.

In addition to Hargrave, the evening will feature performances by The Yargo Trio, featuring faculty members Angela Jones-Reus, flute; Connie Frigo, saxophone; and Liza Stepanova, piano. Other faculty performers include Amy Pollard, bassoon; Maggie Snyder, viola; Jean Martin-Williams, horn; Martha Thomas, piano; Kathryn Wright, voice; and Catherine Kilroe-Smith, horn.

Alongside the faculty, several HHSOM students will also perform: Taylor Lents, marimba; Serena Schibelli, violin; Alissa Benkoski, soprano. Also performing will be Kitchen Sync, a trio composed of Kilroe-Smith and musicians Akiko Iguchi on piano and UGA alumna Katherine Emeneth on the flute. Vivian Doublestein will also be accompanying on the piano.

The program for the evening will explore various pieces, both old and new, written by all female composers. One of the contemporary pieces was written by UGA’s own Assistant Professor of Composition Emily Koh. Joining Dr. Koh’s bass playing in the performance of her composition will be Serena Schibelli on violin and Maggie Snyder on viola. Logos was commissioned by the Boston Athanaeum after the restoration of their seven-volume copy of Primus Liber.

Hargrave is featured as the soloist in Dance, a piece commissioned for her and composed by UGA alumna Dr. Sharon J Willis. Movement IV from the larger work has Hargrave accompanied by a chamber group made up of Mezzo Soprano, Flute, and Clarinet.

“Set in five short movements, the composer paints a "cool" ballet and each movement embraces some unique Afro-centric idiomatic expression that uplifts,” says Hargrave.

Keeping with the evening’s theme, Dr. Jean Kidula, Ethnomusicology professor and co-director of the Athens Music Project, will lead a drumming piece entitled A Play on Atsia and Kpanlogo with a few of her students. Atsia is a type of dance-drumming dialogue where women are the speakers, composers and choreographers.

Audiences are sure to be uplifted in this celebratory evening of music orchestrated by a group of strong women. It will surely be a program to remember.

Tickets for the concert are $20 for adults and $6 for students and can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by phone at 706-542-4400. For those unable to attend this event, the concert will be streamed at music.uga.edu/streaming. The Hugh Hodgson School of Music sponsors more than 350 performances each year. To view the school’s performance calendar and learn more about the School of Music, please visit music.uga.edu.