October Newsletter
Join us on October 16th for our Fifth Anniversary Concert!
Earlier this year, we commissioned four Wildflower alums – Cece Olszewski (‘20, ‘21), Hannah Sobel (‘21), Emily Liushen (‘18), and Chloe Smith (‘21) – to compose new string quartets for Philadelphia-based Quartet Iris, which will be premiered at our Fifth Anniversary Concert on October 16th.
Also on the program are pieces by longtime faculty member inti figgis-vizueta, founder Erin Busch, and past guest composer and current Philadelphia Orchestra Composer-In-Residence Gabriela Lena Frank.
Fifth Anniversary Concert
Sunday, October 16th at 3pm
Ethical Society of Philadelphia
Sliding scale: $10–25
We are thrilled to collaborate with Quartet Iris for this special event!
Julia Li / Christine Lim, violins
Che-Hung Chen, viola
Yumi Kendall, cello
From Quartet Iris:
“We are thrilled to be adding to the string quartet canon by participating in commissioning and performing these new works. Wildflower Composers is doing important work by providing support, professional opportunities, and community to young women and genderqueer composers. We hope to see you at our October 16 concert! Please spread the word.”
Quartet Iris, all of whose members won their positions in the Philadelphia Orchestra while still in music conservatory, first formed in the summer of 2019. Inspired by their orchestra’s commitment to education, the Quartet offered to usher in the 2019 school year by performing at the School District of Philadelphia's opening celebration event. Following that initial appearance, they have since performed at many venues across the Philadelphia area. During 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Quartet Iris took to the digital stage. These digitally produced, socially distanced recordings were featured by the Philadelphia Orchestra and “Live from Carnegie Hall”. As part of an ongoing effort to strive for diversity in classical music, they performed in a special collaboration with the Historic Belmont Mansion and local Philadelphia artists. In 2021, Quartet Iris made its first in person, public appearance at Lenape’s Gala concert, and have since performed at Philadelphia’s Athenaeum, Foulkeways and Spring House Estates in Gwynedd, Trinity Episcopal Church in Solebury, Swarthmore’s Park Avenue Community Center, and The Hill at Whitemarsh.
A bit about our commissioned composers and their new pieces…
Cece Olszewski (‘20, ‘21)
My piece, “in our garden”, consists of two contrasting sections inspired by a set of lyrics from Phoebe Bridgers’ “Garden Song”:
“Everything is growing in our garden / You don’t have to know that it’s haunted.”
I am so excited to be a part of this concert alongside these incredible musicians!
Hannah Sobel (‘21)
I am so honored to have my new quartet, "Your Melodies" performed by Quartet Iris for the Wildflower Composers Five Year Anniversary Concert. "Your Melodies" is based on Reuben Gelley Newman's poem of the same title about discovering and quickly coming to love a new artist. This poem came to mind when I was thinking about Wildflower Composers because of all the new melodies I was surrounded by when I was at the festival in 2021. My piece is meant to emulate the feeling of being overwhelmed and awestruck by new and exciting music.
Emily Liushen (‘18)
I dream that every human may care for a hen and a garden. The human protects the hen from predators, provides her a yard in which to roam and to BE AS LOUD AS SHE WANTS, and feeds her fresh scraps from their garden. In return the hen gives her eggs to the human, who cooks and eats them with the utmost respect and humility for her labor. How sweet the yolks taste because it was she who made them, each as orange and rich as the sun.
Chloe Smith (‘21)
the sun doesn’t always shine was inspired by my first year in conservatory. Sometimes we have moments, dark days, times when it feels like you’re just getting by and just getting through (hello, finals week!). The piece gently glides from brighter to darker harmonies to take you through the metaphorical journey of the bright sun gradually being engulfed by those clouds and even creating a feeling of gloom.
This event is generously sponsored by the Musical Fund Society and the New Music USA Organizational Development Fund.
Wildflower Composers offers several other resources and opportunities for alumni and students. We are thrilled to partner with other local organizations to offer opportunities beyond our summer program, where we strive to develop opportunities that are thoughtfully designed and catalytic in their impact. Check out all of our resources here.
Stay tuned for more updates from Wildflower about new programming and collaborations!
