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NORTHERN EXPRESS MAY 12, 2005
Settling an old Score... Ignored female composers and women of the Great Lakes get their due at Manistee Women's Fest
Vincent Hancock
This week, as Manistee County’s “Celebrating Women” festival kicks into high gear, several historical and musical presentations will highlight regional talents. The festival began May 6 and lasts through May 15, and is open to men as well. Among an exhaustive array of seminars, demonstrations and exhibits are several presentations that recognize women’s contributions to industry and the creative arts.
The festival was born from a musical score penned by the mother of flutist and summer Manistee resident Jodi Picardat. Written in 1946 by Josephine Restelle, the score served as Restelle’s thesis for her master’s degree at the Eastman College of Music.
In an era when even women soloists were rare -- perhaps no more than five percent of all performers -- female composers stand out, says Jim Bond, conductor of the Manistee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. “To find a woman in composition, in a master’s program, at one of the most prestigious music schools in the world -- it’s really extraordinary.”
Until now, the score has only been known from a single performance and an old phonograph record. Restelle’s “Concertino for Piano and Orchestra” will be presented as a concert finale at the Ramsdell Theater on Saturday, May 14 at 8 p.m.
“It’s a modern piece that’s reminiscent of film scores of the 1940s,” says Bond. Jodi Picardat plans to attend with members of her family. “We’ll probably be bawling our eyes out,” she says. “My mother would be absolutely thrilled and excited.”
LOST COMPOSERS
Three other works will fill out the evening of music in a rare program featuring only women, says Bond, noting that the female composers are new to him also. If the other composers -- Amy Beach, Cecile Chaminade and Emma Lou Diemer -- are new to you, you’re not alone. Largely ignored or working under the title of “Mrs.” Bond says that women composers have a history of being passed over. “The problem was that they didn’t get much credit in their own era. As prolific as they may have been, they just weren’t selected for that many concerts.”
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