'Women of Note' concert welcomes Joan Tower to Rowan

Illuminating the contributions of women to the world of music, Rowan University offers "Women of Note: A Celebration of Women Composers" on Thursday, March 4 at 7 pm in Boyd Recital Hall on the university's Glassboro campus. A meet-the-artists reception follows the performance.

Presented during Women's History Month by the Women's and Gender Studies Program and the College of Fine & Performing Arts, the concert welcomes internationally-renowned composer Joan Tower to an evening of her work - and the work of other notable women. Rowan faculty, students and guest artists perform compositions covering the history of music, from classical to Broadway, jazz, pop and more.

The program starts by taking listeners from the music of Hildegard von Bingen and Clara Schumann to compositions by Amy Beach, Marian McPartland, Libby Larsen and Joni Mitchell, while the second half features Tower's work. Acclaimed pianist Veda Zuponcic, WOCHO (Rowan's Women's Chorus), mezzo soprano Bonita Granite, violinist Bertram Greenspan, flutist Adeline Tomasone and Dean Witten with the Rowan Percussion Ensemble are among the varied performers set to interpret the diverse list of compositions.

Hailed as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time" in The New Yorker magazine, Tower was the first woman to receive the Grawemeyer Award in Composition in 1990. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998 and the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in 2004. Tower's music is noted for a number of defining qualities: driving rhythms and colorful orchestrations influenced by the sounds and sensations of a childhood spent in South America; and approachability for listeners and players alike, resulting from her engagement with the performers of her music (often written with specific musicians in mind) and her own performances as a pianist. Early works were serial in conception. In the 1970s she moved toward more tonal, Messiaen-like sonorities. She has written a number of works paying homage to composers such as Beethoven (Concerto for Piano), Stravinsky (Petroushskates) and Copland (Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman). She was the first composer chosen for a Ford Made in America consortium commission. The recording of this piece earned three 2008 Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Boyd Recital Hall is located in Wilson Hall on the campus of Rowan University, Route 322 in Glassboro, NJ. Tickets are $15 and advanced purchase is recommended. For tickets and information, call the box office at (856) 256-4545, email arts@rowan.edu or purchase online at rowan.tix.com.