The Marseille city is hosting, from April 6 to 13, a musical event, called “Musical Bounce Back” with its company Piano and Co, dedicated to the great creators of historical and contemporary music.
Long ignored and invisible, the composers of old and current music from five countries will be highlighted in Marseille from April 6 to 13, the result of a project lasting more than two years boosted by the MeToo movement. “In conservatories, music schools, classrooms are called Chopin, Beethoven…, the timelines from the Middle Ages to the present day only show men”underlines the pianist Nathalie Négro, at the origin of this musical event, called «Musical Bounce Back» (Musical Rebound) with his company Piano and Co.
Often, this musician, who has long been involved in the fight for better representation of women, has questioned music school students: “Name five composers”. “And there it all explodes,” she says, “but when I say “Name five female composers, there’s a Clara Schumann (1819-1896) who appears and that’s it””.
For a long time, concertgoers had few opportunities to hear female composers. A report on gender equality in live performance in France established in 2006 for the Ministry of Culture highlighted: “97% of the music we hear in our institutions was composed by men”. And Nathalie Négro does not hesitate to add: “And yet women occupy a very real place in the ancient and current history of music”.
Thanks to an Erasmus project, co-financed by the European Union, Piano and Co traveled to five countries – Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Armenia, in addition to France – to research this «matrimoine musical» and work with young musicians to establish an educational kit so that women are more recognized in music. “They introduced us to the composers of their country (…), whether in traditional, electronic or classical music”, says Nathalie Négro. Commissions were also placed with female composers for this «Musical Bounce Back».
Thursday, April 11, Greek composer Esthir Lemi will present a world premiere concert with Angela Da Ponte from Portugal and the French Iris Kaufmann and Mélanie Gentilhomme as well as Tanya Dufort playing the daf, a circular frame drum in the Persian tradition.
The next day, French composer Eve Risser will offer an intercultural work combining traditional and classical instruments for an evening “European female composers”.
All week, an exhibition at the Conservatory will highlight the musical artists discovered during the project in order to inspire new generations. A screening of Lisa Rovner’s film, Sisters with transistorswill also pay tribute to the heroines of electronic music on April 11.
Musical Bounce Back, from April 6 to 13 in Marseille