Concert to honor female composers

When you think of classical music, who are the first three eminent classical composers that come to mind? Most likely Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Sibelius, or Brahms are among the names that make the cut. Whatever they may be, they probably share a common characteristic: They are all male.

This Sunday at 3 p.m. in Skinner Hall of Music, the Department of Music will welcome SATORI, a chamber music ensemble, to perform a concert featuring music composed entirely by women at Skinner Hall. The concert will feature the works of Clara Schumann, Madeleine Dring, Rebecca Clarke, Thea Musgrave and Hilary Tann .

The name of the chamber group originates from the Zen term satori. "We use that as a metaphor," Nora Suggs, the founder of SATORI, said. "It means a moment of epiphany, a moment of sudden complete understanding—of new perspective."

The group is a mixed ensemble, with winds, strings and piano. This ties in partly with the idea of satori: members unite their disparate instruments into one cohesive sound that brings about new comprehension. "We feel we each contribute our separate parts to it. It all comes together and makes a new whole," Suggs said.

SATORI was founded in 1996 as a self-managed chamber orchestra group, and since then has played 14 different concert series at a variety of venues stretching from concert halls to rehab centers and museums. The idea of an all-female concert was in planning for some years. "This is something we've been wanting to do for a while," said Cheryl Bishkoff, oboist for SATORI as well as an Adjunct Artist in Music at Vassar. "We had been interested, partly because Vassar used to be a women's college, to give a concert of just women composers,"

The SATORI concert is coincidentally happening at the same time as Vassar's Sesquicentennial, a time for reflection on the history and background of the College, including its existence as a women's college. The members of the group never planned for such timing. "It was just a serendipitous occurrence," Suggs said.

The group is comprised of both men and women, and picks individuals for concerts on the basis of need, scheduling, and ability. Composed of six women for this particular concert, SATORI hopes that the music pieces will highlight what women have achieved in a field that has been traditionally dominated by men.

"Schumann was as great a composer as the men in her day, just not as well known," Bishkoff said.

Suggs concurred with Bishkoff. "This is a heads-up. This is like, okay, the guys did some really good music, but so did the women," Suggs said.

SATORI hopes students will get more out of the concert than merely the fact that it is all-women based. "The first thing I would hope [for students] is pure enjoyment of a very fine concert," Bishkoff said. "Beyond that I think there's an intellectual aspect of appreciating this music that is rarely played."

The featured composers originate from all across North America and Europe, and their music ranges from the 19th century up to the very contemporary. "The music is very diverse but its also very enjoyable," Bishkoff said.