6. Chamber Music Concert

Born in the United States in 1867, Amy Beach was one of the few female composers of her time to achieve international fame. She was the first American woman to publish a symphony. In addition to her work as a composer, she was also a pioneer of the women’s movement. In the Association of American Women Composers, which she co-founded, she advocated for women’s rights and encouraged female musicians to continue their artistic careers despite marriage and motherhood. Her romantic musical language is framed in this concert by works for four horns: the rapturous quartets by the Russian composer Nikolai Tcherepnin and the rousing suite by the French composer Eugène Bozza. The program concludes with the lyrical String Quartet No. 2 by Alexander Borodin, who enjoyed success both as a composer and as a professor of chemistry in St. Petersburg. Written in 1881, his string quartet is imbued with heartfelt melodies and a poignant longing.