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Student Sacred Nine Project: Sufferage [sic]
Down with the Hegemony!
Tuesday, May 3, 7:00 PM, Dixon Hall, Tulane University
In my hours of perusing sheet music from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, I am always struck by the various ways women are portrayed. They are often objectified as dolls. If they want to vote, they are trying to “wear the pants.” If they dress too ostentatiously, they are belittled. If they hold an admirer in thrall, they are “witchy.”
Student Sacred Nine Project: Sufferage [sic] will explore examples of hegemonic femininity found in nineteenth-century popular songs. “Sufferage” is a made-up play on words. Of course, “suffrage” refers to women’s right to vote, and the other word indicates how women “suffer” in music and verse due to deep-seated standards of femininity. Sammi Maza, Gender and Sexuality Studies major at Tulane University, helped navigate this concert concept, and identified several of these archaic paradigms, including whiteness, youthfulness, purity, and passivity. Of course, “straightness” is another example, though it would have been the trait that went without saying.
The first half of the concert will be a performance of 100-year-old songs that touch on these themes. Then, the second half of the performance will poke against those standards with almost completely new verse, and five brand new pieces of music, giving voice to Women of Color, Queer Women, Aging Women, and Assertive Women. Featured poets include Derby Belser, Joan Barasovska, Arynne Fannin, Regina Garcia, Maddie Grills, and Audre Lorde. The composers include Maddie Grills and Barbara Jazwinski.
(To access timestamps for individual pieces, click on “Watch on YouTube.”)
“The Spirit Bride,” poetry and music, Everett Baker
performed by Daisy Ellis, Sammi Maza, Carlo Barrera, & Eames Heard
with C. Leonard Raybon comically voicing The Moon Man
“Serenade” poetry by Henry W. Longfellow, music by Charles J. Rockwell
performed by Carlo Barrera, Perry Mains, Conrad Allemen II, & Eames Heard
“A Sonnet for a Crown” poetry by Regina YC Garcia, music by C. Leonard Raybon
performed by the Poet, and the Sopranos and Altos of Tulane-Newcomb Choir
“The Grandmother,” poetry by Arynne S. Fannin, music by C. Leonard Raybon
performed by the Poet, and the Tenors and Basses of Tulane-Newcomb Choir
“Fidelity,” poetry by Joan Barasovska, music by C. Leonard Raybon
performed by the Sopranos and Altos of Tulane-Newcomb Choir; Jesse Reeks, Accompanist
“Until the Water Runs Clear,” poetry and music by Madeline Grills
performed by the Sopranos and Altos of Tulane-Newcomb Choir
She’s a Dancer, “movement 1: [dancer],” poetry by Derby E. Belser, music by Barbara Jazwinski
performed by Tulane-Newcomb Choir; Jesse Reeks, Accompanist
She’s a Dancer, “movement 2: anchored,” poetry by Derby E. Belser, music by Barbara Jazwinski
performed by Tulane-Newcomb Choir; Jesse Reeks, Accompanist
She’s a Dancer, “movement 6: fire,” poetry by Derby E. Belser, music by Barbara Jazwinski
performed by Tulane-Newcomb Choir; Jesse Reeks, Accompanist