COMING MARCH 15, 2021 

 Silent Fire

A Digital Exhibition featuring Works By Womxn & About Womxn

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music in partnership with Nasty Women Connecticut invites artists to submit a proposal for work by womxn and about womxn to be performed and showcased in a virtual exhibition format. This project seeks to amplify the voices of womxn creatives ranging from the 1600s to the present day by showcasing sparsely recorded musical performances and contemporary art in response to a selection of repertoire. 

The music included intersects with a myriad of themes that could easily translate to artistic works of similar subjects. In her musical monologue, Ardo in tacito foco Barbara Strozzi describes her struggle with internal confinement, harrowing heartbreak, and the torture of being silenced. Libby Larsen’s contemporary song cycle, Try Me, Good King, reframes the fateful stories of the wives of King Henry VIII by placing their raw, human emotion at the core of the music. Frühling by 19th-century composer Fanny Hensel is a delightful and short work sparkling with optimism, joy, anticipation for spring, and devotion to nature. An April Day by Florence Price creates a moment of pure contentment as the music illustrates the majesty and whimsy of springtime. After by Joel Thompson, is a contemporary vocal work centering on the experience of an anonymous survivor of sexual assault. The first movement explores victim blaming in the legal process, and the second, the value of speaking up on behalf of others. For Marsha (P. Johnson) by Alexis Lamb is a tribute to Marsha P. Johnson, a black, transgender woman at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and simultaneously presents the joy of love and free-expression while remembering the painful trials from the past.

Featured Artists: Katie Butler, Pearl Lee-ora Kruss, Jacqueline Andrews, Carter Norris, Carolyn Thompson, and Jennifer Rae & Sugar.

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