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WIU School of Music 2024 Women’s History Month Events

The Western Illinois School of Music is proud to present a series of four events in honor of Women’s History Month. Three concerts and a guest lecture will showcase the accomplishments of women as composers, community organizers, and performers, as well as the work of WIU students, faculty, and guest artists.

Our series begins with the second annual concert of music by and about women, non-binary/trans, and queer persons, “WNBQ is on the air.” This event, on March 7, 2024 at 7:30 pm in the CoFAC Recital Hall, features WIU students, faculty, and guest performers, presenting music by composers of the past and present as well as new music by WIU students and friends of the community, in a range of genres and styles.

Dr. Marian Wilson Kimber, Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa, will be our guest for two events on March 28. She will present a lecture, “Lifting as She Climbed: Mollie Fines and Music in African American Women’s Clubs” at 2:00 pm in the University Union Lincoln Room, and Dr. Wilson Kimber will be joined by WIU Assistant Professor of Piano, Dr. Natalie Landowski, for a recital of spoken-word compositions by American women at 7:30 pm in the COFAC Recital Hall.

The final concert of the series takes place on Sunday, April 14, at 3 pm at First Presbyterian Church, Macomb. WIU students and faculty will perform compositions written for the organ by women, including American composers Florence Price and Sharon Willis.

Please contact Dr. Anita Hardeman (a-hardeman@wiu.edu) for further information.

Individual Listings:

WNBQ is on the air (Season 2)

Thursday, March 7, 7:30 pm

CoFAC Recital Hall

This concert, now in its second year, will feature music by and about women, non-binary/trans, and queer persons. Student, faculty, and guest performers will present music by composers of the past and present as well as new music by WIU students and friends of the community, in a range of genres and styles. We look forward to welcoming you to our event!

Guest Lecture: Lifting as She Climbed: Mollie Fines and Music in African American Women’s Clubs

Dr. Marian Wilson Kimber, Professor of Musicology, University of Iowa

Thursday, March 28, 2:00 pm

Lincoln Room, University Union

At their 1926 meeting, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs adopted the song, “Lifting as We Climb.” Composed by Wichita clubwoman Mollie Fines, the song drew on the organization’s motto in stressing education and racial uplift for African American women. Fines served as the NACWC’s music director, and after her tenure, she remained an important musical force in African American communities in Kansas into the 1940s. The NACWC’s early leadership was largely upper class; yet like ca. 40% of African American women employed in the 1920s, Fines was a domestic worker. Through her club and church affiliations, Fines promoted the music of African American composers, organizing state music contests and directing choral performances and pageants on racial and religious themes. Fines’s musical activities in Kansas helped subsidize educational and social initiatives, such as funding scholarships and childcare facilities. Her engagement with the NACWC reveals how the music making of Black women’s groups was deeply entwined with philanthropic efforts to meet the pressing needs of African American communities.

Marian Wilson Kimber is Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters about the composers Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and women’s roles in musical life. Wilson Kimber’s book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (from University of Illinois Press), received the Society for American Music’s H. Earle Johnson Publication Subvention. As part of the duo, Red Vespa, with Natalie Landowski, Wilson Kimber has been performing the compositions she explores in her book since 2017.

Guest Recital: In a Woman’s Voice: Spoken-Word Composition by American Women

Guest Artists: Red Vespa

Thursday, March 28, 7:30 pm

CoFAC Recital Hall

The performing duo of Dr. Marian Wilson Kimber (University of Iowa) and Dr. Natalie Landowski (WIU) return to the CoFAC recital stage to present an evening of musical readings created by women. Through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women elocutionists toured North America to great acclaim, and many of them created works for performance. Dr. Wilson Kimber discovered this repertoire while conducting research for her book The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (from University of Illinois Press), and began to perform these works with pianist Dr. Natalie Landowski. Their ensemble, Red Vespa, is also active in the creation of new works in this genre.

Marian Wilson Kimber is Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters about the composers Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and women’s roles in musical life. Wilson Kimber’s book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (from University of Illinois Press), received the Society for American Music’s H. Earle Johnson Publication Subvention. As part of the duo, Red Vespa, with Natalie Landowski, Wilson Kimber has been performing the compositions she explores in her book since 2017.

Natalie Landowski is Assistant Professor of Piano at Western Illinois University, where she also serves as the Keyboard Area Coordinator. An active performer, Landowski has presented solo and chamber ensemble performances for the University of Iowa's Piano Sundays and Steinway Extravaganza series, and at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, the Upper Bay Philharmonic Society, and Irvine City Hall, as well as other venues.

The Queen of Instruments: Organ Music by Women Composers

Sunday, April 14, 3 pm

First Presbyterian Church, Macomb

Join WIU students and faculty as we celebrate the women who have composed for the queen of instruments – the organ! Featured composers are Marilyn Biery, Emma Lou Diemer, Jeanne Demessieux, Rachel Laurin, Cecilia McDowel, Florence Price, and Sharon Willis.