It has finally arrived! The 2018 LunART Festival celebrating women composers, performers, visual artists, choreographers, and more! This festival, spearheaded by Sound Out Loud flutist Iva Ugrčić, has a mission to: “… support, inspire, promote, and celebrate women in the arts through public performances, exhibitions, workshops, and interdisciplinary collaboration; thus enriching our community and creating a welcoming space for learning and experimentation.”
Please do yourself a favor and take a scroll down LunART Fest’s official facebook page, you’ll find post after post highlighting all of the fantastic musicians participating in this festival!
DONATE TO THE CAMPAIGN – Help support this event and sustain it for future seasons!
LunART Festival write ups by: Isthmus; Madison 365; Diversity.Wisc;
More from LunART: “ [This] festival strives to cultivate a vibrant, safe space for women, unveiling our artistic leadership and creating the opportunity to put our hearts and souls into what we believe in.
Throughout history, artists have created and used their works as a powerful way to comment on social issues. They have raised questions, challenged norms, and encouraged people to observe controversial subjects through a different lens. Gender issues are currently at the forefront of political and social discussions, and we want to support women across the globe as they navigate the gender imbalance in artistic fields.
This three-day festival features a remarkable range of women, diverse and varied in their artistic vision, but with the shared passion and desire to make their voices heard!
Our 2018 Artist in Residence is award-winning composer Jenni Brandon. She will coach the LunART Festival “From Page to Stage: Emerging Composers Workshop,” offering master classes, lectures, and discussions about collaboration and career tools. ”
2018 LunART Festival Dates and Featured Events
Thursday, June 28:
6pm Free | Lecture “Beyond the Muse: Women’s Musical History” presented by musicologist Andrea Fowler @ Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Lobby: 227 State Street, Madison Wisconsin 53703
“The main idea behind this talk is to highlight the varied roles that women play in the music industry. We are performers, composers, and scholars, yes. And those roles have been public for quite some time. But we are also pedagogues, consiglieri, critics, and administrators, not to mention conductors, librarians, and educators. My goal with this talk is to explore some examples of these roles and to demonstrate how women’s cultural agency is a vital part of music in the 21st century.”
7pm $20 Tickets | “Moon Dances” Opening Gala Concert” @ Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Lobby: 227 State Street, Madison Wisconsin 53703
Enjoy this opening event featuring music by Composer-in-Residence Jenni Brandon; 2018 Call for Scores Winners Katy Abbott & Veronika Krausas; Valerie Coleman and Cecilia McDowall; with special guests Katrina Schaag, writer and Zhalarina Sanders, hip-hop artist.
Program
Katrina Therese Schaag
The Infinite Woman feminist writing project
Jenni Brandon Music, composer-in-residence
Meditations for piano, violin, viola and cello
Veronika Krausas, 2018 Call for Scores Winner
Hopscotch Tarot for mezzo soprano and violin
Cecilia McDowall
The Moon Dances for flute and piano
Jenni Brandon
The Dreams of Birds for alto flute and piano
Katy Abbott, 2018 Call for Scores Winner
Glisten for piano solo
Valerie Coleman-Page Flutist & Composer
Trio Toccata for oboe, bassoon and piano
Friday, June 29:
7pm $20 Tickets | “The Woman with the Unfathomable Eyes” Friday Gala Concert, Promenade Hall, Overture Center for the Arts: 201 State St, Madison, WI 53703
Program
Xinyan Li, 2018 Call for Scores Winner
Mongolian Impressions for solo bassoon, percussion, and string quartet
Katrin Talbot
poetry reading and photo exhibition
Jenni Brandon
Sun Songs for soprano, English horn, cello, and piano
Galina Ustvolskaya
Composition No.1 “Dona Nobis Pacem” for tuba, piccolo and piano
Fanny Mendelssohn
Three Pieces for piano four hands
Doina Rotaru
Japanese Garden for bass flute/piccolo and electronics
Jenni Brandon
The Woman with the Unfathomable Eyes
for small chamber ensemble, narrator, and dancer
9:30pm Free | “That’s What She Said” Anthology @ Bos Meadery: 849 East Washington, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
That’s What She Said is a story-share production in which local women share real stories about their fears, their joys, their lives. Created in 2014, it is produced by The Bricks Theatre (Madison, WI) and directed by Molly Vanderlin (Owner/Producer, The Bricks Theatre). It has received great reviews, and after fifteen shows, The Bricks Theatre has decided it might have a great idea!
Saturday, June 30:
10am Free | Panel Discussion: “Collaboration in the Arts” – with Jenni Brandon, Katrina Schaag, and Zhalarina H. Sanders, @ The Bubbler at Madison Public Library: 201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Join us for a Saturday morning chat about the Collaboration is the Arts led by our fabulous guest artists:
Jenni Brandon – composer
Kelly Parks Snider – visual artist
Katrina Therese Schaag, PhD. – writer
This engaging panel discussion is for anyone interested in arts entrepreneurship, and for those who want to learn how artists work together. Participation from attendees is encouraged.
2-3pm Free | “From Page to Stage: Emerging Composers Workshop” – Composition master class with Jenni Brandon @ Outreach Concert, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall: 333 W Main St, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
We are extremely excited to welcome 6 talented composers to LunART’s 2018 educational program “From Page to Stage: Emerging Composers!” Join us for the concert dedicated to showcasing their works!
7pm $20 Tickets | “Women’s Voices” Closing Gala Concert @ First Unitarian Society Auditorium: 900 University Bay Dr, Madison, Wisconsin 53705
Join the LunART Festival in celebrating women in the arts! Enjoy this event featuring music by Composer-in-Residence Jenni Brandon, 2018 Call for Scores Winner Ingrid Stölzel, and Abbie Betinis, Hildegard von Bingen, Linda Kachelmeier, Elizabeth Alexander, Marilyn Bliss, Brianna Ware, Madeleine Dring, & Amy Beach. Featuring Festival Women’s Choir conducted by Kathy Otterson.
With special guests: visual artist Kelly Parks Snider and photographers Jennifer Bucheit & Katrin Talbot.
9:30pm Free | “Starry Night”performance: 2014 International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion and folk singer-songwriter Helen Avakian, and rock band Tiny Dinosaur @ Robinia Courtyard: 829 E Washington Ave, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Come enjoy our fabulous guest artists, singer-songwriter Helen Avakian and Tiny Dinosaur rock band, and join us in celebrating the end of our inaugural 2018 season!
Madison singer-songwriter and guitarist Helen Avakian is the 2014 International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, and was voted Favorite Acoustic Act by Rhythm and News Magazine. She is also a recording artist, producer, and guitar instructor specializing in acoustic guitar music.
Time for some indie pop emerging from the primordial ooze of the isthmus to weave tiny tales. It’s Mesozoic music for the masses. Tiny Dinosaur is an indie rock band of four females giving a warm embrace to folk, punk, and pop to tell you a story.
Partners
LunART Festival has partnered with area art organizations including:
- Overture Center for the Arts
- Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts
- First United Methodist Church
- Madison Public Library
- Capitol Lakes Retirement Center and First Unitarian Society
- Robinia Courtyard
- Bos Meadery
- Field Table
LunART is supported by:
- Dane Arts and Madison Arts Commission
- 2018 UW Arts Business Competition, 2nd place
- finalist for 2018 National Flute Association’s C.R.E.A.T.E. Project Competition
Composer In Residence – Jenni Brandon
Call For Score Winners
Emerging Composers Participants
- Grace Hale
- Donna Howard
- Meg Huskin
- Seolhee Kim
- Alissa Stolt
- Amy Thomas
Performers
- Sarah Ambrose, flute
- ARTemis Women’s Choir
- Helen Avakian, singer-songwriter
- Yana Avedyan, DMA piano
- Jennifer Bucheit, photographer
- Melanie Cain, DMA voice
- Matthew Coley, percussion
- Thomas Curry, DMA tuba
- Lara Saville Dahl, DMA oboe
- Shannon Farley, violin
- Andrea Fowler, musicology
-
Vincent Fuh, piano
- Jose García-Taborda, clarinet
- Ina Georgieva, viola
- Brian Grimm, cello
- Amy Harr, cello
- Satoko Hayami, piano
- Heartland Marimba Ensemble
- Kyle D. Johnson, DMA piano
- Buzz Kemper, narrator
- Michael Koszewski, percussion
- Jason Kutz, piano
- Leanne League, violin
- Sarah Leuwerke, mezzo-soprano
- Wes Luke, violin
- Blakeley Menghini, DMA viola
- Juliana Mesa, bassoon
- Kathleen Otterson, conductor
- Marie Pauls, viola
- Jennifer Paulson, viola
-
Breta Saganski, percussion
- Valerie Clare Sanders, violin
- Katie Schaag, PhD
- Kelly Parks Snider, visual artist & activist
- Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, violin
- Kristina Teuschler, clarinet
- Tiny Dinosaur, rock band
- Liz Sexe, dancer & choreograper
- Samantha Sinai, cello
-
Katrin Talbot, photographer and poet
- Lawren Brianna Ware, piano & composition
- Jacqueline Wilson, DMA bassoon
- Aaron Yarmel, violin
- Iva Ugrčić, flute
