Baroque Music Composed by and for Women to be Presented at Rutgers in a Free Concert April 16

The story of women composers over the centuries of classical music history is only beginning to be known.  But going as far back as 12th century composer Hildegard von Bingen, women have been writing great music, yet much of their work has only recently been discovered and performed.

SIREN Baroque, a New York City based all-female ensemble founded in 2011, is devoted to bringing music by women composers of the Baroque into the active repertoire, through performance and recording.  The group has presented acclaimed concerts in New York, Boston, New Jersey, and Mexico, and released their first CD, “Siren Songs,” in 2014.

Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N) will present SIREN Baroque on Thursday, April 165 p.m. in a free concert of music composed by and for women, as part of RU-N’s “Evening of Music & Art” series.  The hour long concert in the University Club, Paul Robeson Campus Center, will be followed by a meet-the-artists reception in the Robeson Art Gallery. 

SIREN Baroque’s program includes music by composers Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729), Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana (1590-1662) and Maria Francesca Nascinbeni (1640-1680).  The program will also feature music by Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote many of his now famous works while working in an orphanage for girls in Venice.

The performers of SIREN Baroque are Liv Heym and Antonia Nelson, violins; Anneke Schaul-Yoder, cello; Kelly Savage, harpsichord; and Brittany Palmer and Brett Umlauf, sopranos.  Information on the ensemble can be found athttp://sirenbaroque.com/

Admission to the April 16 event is free and open to the public; reservations for groups of 10 or more are available by contacting occ@andromeda.rutgers.edu  

Maps, directions, public transportation and parking information are available at www.newark.rutgers.edu/maps.