About the Composer:
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) was a French composer and pianist who displayed remarkable musical talent early in life, overcoming her father's objections. She gained prominence around Europe in the late 19th Century, both as a performer and as a composer, mainly of Piano music or songs. Notably, in 1913 she was the first female composer to be awarded the Légion d'Honneur. History has, perhaps, not been kind to her, as her Romantic style was not as popular with audience as her contemporaries with a more modern sound. Fortunately, her works have been reappraised by performers and audiences in the last 20 or so years.
Artistic Director's Notes:
One of the first "historical" female composers I was aware of as a young student was Lili Boulanger (Her sister was the extremely well known composition teacher Nadia Boulanger). In some of Lili's writing, before her death at the young age of 24, she mentioned Chaminade as a rolé model, and it is then that I was first aware of Chaminade. She has become one of my favourite composers to play at home, especially as her work is still new to me, and to Canadian audiences. Her Flute Concertino is perhaps her most well known orchestral work.
PS: After I wrote these notes, our soloist Clara said that there was a very interesting story about this work that involves love, revenge, difficult sightreading and a wedding. I shall let her tell everyone at the concert exactly what this story is!
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