To be a composer as a woman in the 17th and early 18th centuries, one had to fit a unique paradigm.
“They were either nuns, courtesans or nobility,” says Mina Gajić, artistic and executive director of COmpass REsonance (CORE), the former ensemble-in-residence of the Boulder Bach Festival.
Presenting its first event as an independent organization at the Dairy Arts Center on March 8, The Feminine Divine celebrates these undersung artists with music by women composers of the baroque era.
“Our program includes four of the most prominent such women from Italy and France,” Gajić says.
Five CORE musicians will present the repertoire, anchored by Minnesota-based harpsichordist Tami Morse, along with Denver soprano Sarah Moyer and CU-Boulder alum, mezzo-soprano Claire McCahan. Cellist Joseph Howe and CORE music director Zachary Carrettin on violin complete the small ensemble.
“We are opening with the famous prelude from J.S. Bach’s first cello suite,” Gajić says. “The most significant source for these suites is a manuscript by his wife Anna Magdalena Bach, and there has always been speculation that she may have written them.”
From Venice to Versailles
Barbara Strozzi, one of the four composers featured in the upcoming CORE program, was born in Venice in 1619 to a famous poet father. She was extremely prolific, known for both her singing and composition.
“She did all this without the patronage of the church or a noble house,” Gajić says. “Her father hired composers to teach her, essentially creating a school for a single student.”
Strozzi was a controversial figure and was accused of being a courtesan. The vast majority of her work consists of secular vocal pieces, three of which are on the program: two arias and a duet sung by Moyer and McCahan.
Francesca Caccini was employed by the Medici court in Florence. Carrettin plays her only instrumental work, a chaconne for solo violin, a form with continual variations over a constantly repeated ground bass or harmony.
“It is a stunning piece that features surprising leaps across the fingerboard,” Gajić says. McCahan sings a dramatic, charismatic Caccini aria with “fiery vocal ornamentation.”
Isabella Leonarda went a different route for a woman composer. “She joined a convent at age 16 and, sheltered by the church, she was able to write without concerns of supporting herself,” Gajić says, noting that she was the first woman to write sonatas for violin, using a strikingly modern style of instrumental writing for the time. Carrettin and Morse play one of these.
Finally, the French court of Louis XIV is represented by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, who was known as a virtuoso harpsichordist and prodigy, prolific in both vocal and instrumental music.
“We are doing a full harpsichord suite that will show Tami’s incredible skills and an aria, sung by Claire (McCahan), that shows Jacquet de La Guerre’s dedication to the dramatic hues of the French language,” Gajić says.
‘Truly serendipitous’
CORE made its debut as the Boulder Bach Festival (BBF) ensemble-in-residence in 2019, growing out of the organization’s fellowship artist initiative. Since then, the scope and vision of the conductorless, baroque-focused string orchestra has outgrown the original concept of the Bach Festival.
Though it will still organize the Boulder Bach Festival, COmpass REsonance is the official name of the nonprofit as of this year. The festival itself will return to its roots as an annual week-long event, presented by CORE, with its first iteration coming in March 2026.
The March 8 concert was originally billed as the third event of the BBF season before the rebrand was official. What is now the CORE season concludes April 6 and features the full string ensemble.
Another baroque woman composer is included on that program: the Milanese Maria Teresa Agnesi. “Her social standing allowed her an extraordinary education,” Gajić says. “She wrote at least four operas, and her portrait hangs at La Scala.”
CU alum Mara Riley, both a soprano and flutist, sings the first known Colorado performance of an Agnesi aria in a new edition produced by CORE. Riley will also sing an aria by Vivaldi.
The diverse program begins with the first live performance of Overture for a Changing World, composed by Carrettin during the COVID pandemic. Gajić performs as piano soloist in Ernest Bloch’s 1925 baroque-inspired Concerto Grosso No. 1 and J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. In the Bach work, she is joined by Riley on flute, showcasing her “double threat” musicianship.
Gajić says March 8 was always one of the organization’s concert dates and it was always going to be a program of baroque women composers, but she and her husband and musical partner Carrettin then realized the date was International Women’s Day.
“It was truly serendipitous, an unplanned perfect combination of things coming together.”
ON THE BILL: COmpass REsonance presents The Feminine Divine. 4 p.m. Saturday, March 8. Dairy Arts Center - Gordon Gamm Theater, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $35-$65