Hickory – Western Piedmont Symphony (WPS), the professional orchestra of the western foothills of North Carolina, presents a Community Conversation Celebrating Women’s History Month. Pioneering Women Composers: Dame Ethyl Smyth, Women’s Suffrage, and Musical Identity will be led by Dr. Amy Zigler, associate professor of music at Salem College and leading scholar on the life and music of Dame Ethyl Smyth.

Musicologist and Ethel Smyth scholar Dr. Amy Zigler of Salem College will present an informal talk on pioneering women composers, with an emphasis on the life and music of the gender-bending composer Dame Ethel Smyth. This presentation is part of the celebration of Women’s History Month in conjunction with the Western Piedmont Symphony’s upcoming March 7 Masterworks: Symphonie Fantastique concert, which features Smyth’s Overture to The Wreckers and a performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 by acclaimed violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Berlioz’s magnificent Symphonie Fantastique closes the concert.

WHAT: Community Conversation: Pioneering Women Composers – Dame Ethyl Smyth, Women’s Suffrage, and Musical Identity

WHEN: Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Community Room, Ridgeview Branch Library, 706 1st St SW, Hickory, NC 28602

TICKETS: FREE

About Western Piedmont Symphony:

Western Piedmont Symphony is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council and is a funded affiliate of the United Arts Council of Catawba County. Business offices are located at the SALT Block at 243 Third Avenue NE, Hickory. Box Office hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mon. – Fri. For more information about Western Piedmont Symphony, call 828-324-8603, visit wpsymphony.org, or email [email protected]. Follow Western Piedmont Symphony on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X.