This weekend at the Albany Symphony, Clara Schumann “is getting her due with the Clara Schumann Festival, a four-day, multi-concert event … to mark her bicentenary—and honor, in the words of maestro David Alan Miller, ‘a woman who got there ahead of the curve,’ ” writes Amy Biancolli in Wednesday’s (1/8) Times Union (Albany, N.Y.). “Included … are a film screening, chamber recitals and orchestral concerts featuring her piano concerto alongside her husband’s—both of them in A minor, and both performed by 14-year-old [pianist Harmony] Zhu. Also on the program are the world premiere of [Loren] Loiacono’s ‘muse.mute.mate.made’ and … Johannes Brahms’ ‘Tragic’ Overture…. The Clara Schumann Festival arrives in the thick of a 2019-2020 Albany Symphony season designed to showcase women.… A number of landmarks and cultural movements underscore the year: the 19th Amendment centennial, for a start, plus the public discourse around #MeToo and the broader issues of equity facing the classical world.… ‘There’s this incredible disparity in concert music, and certainly among orchestras,’ said Miller. The season overall ‘really is a chance for us to address that [by celebrating] impressive and exciting women composers.’ ”
In large photo: The Albany Symphony Orchestra and Music Director David Alan Miller. Inset: Clara Schumann
