The presence of women throughout the History of Music, in every era, is widely documented. Whether as composers, performers, patrons, music publishers, conductors, educators, or instrument makers, women have always contributed to the fabric of the musical world of their time – sometimes anonymously or under pseudonyms, at other times receiving recognition, contracts, awards, and honours. This involvement, often unknown to the general public, has increasingly become a focus of musicological research. Specifically in the realm of composition, research has revealed a whole fascinating repertoire of immense quality, which stands as a vital and integral part of our musical heritage: a repertoire whose sheer number, variety, and chronology debunks the idea of “exceptionality” and, instead, demonstrates the continuous presence of women in musical practices across the centuries. The rediscovery of these works, long unknown for reasons entirely unrelated to their quality, offers new perspectives on the History of Music, which thus reveals itself to be richer, more diverse, and more surprising than the traditional canon has led us to believe. In this lecture, rather than lamenting absences, the aim is to celebrate presences: women who created with mastery, influenced cultural circuits, and offered artistic contributions of undeniable relevance and beauty.
— Inês Thomas Almeida —
17 October
Friday, 6.00 pm
Auditório da Reitoria da Universidade da Madeira, Funchal
Round table
Inês Thomas Almeida (Chair)
Musicologist
Rita Rodrigues
Researcher
Marco Roque de Freitas
Ethnomusicologist
Paulo Esteireiro
President of the Madeira Music Conservatory
João Vaz
Organista e Diretor Artístico do Festival
Laura Mendes
Organist
