Needs Addressed
I. LAURELS recognizes the presence of an intellectual and sometimes aesthetic disconnect between audiences and contemporary-art music and addresses the audiences need for greater avenues of entry into and association with contemporary art-music idioms.
"[Laurels] addresses a number of important issues in the field of art-music today. By bringing together composers and their
literary muses [Assimakopoulos] is creating an outreach to audiences, especially audiences who have not had much exposure to new
music [and] giving audiences a way to experience contemporary music by pointing out the line of inspiration."
- Ruth Lomon, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"Further, the connections between music and literature in each piece should provide windows into the music of today for those
unfamiliar with new music and provide another dimension to the music for those already attuned to new works."
- Elizabeth Vercoe, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"In the bigger picture connections [Assimakopoulos] is making with other flutists, students, flute clubs and organizations
will aid...in the larger cause of creating and supporting new music in this country. The vitality of all music depends on the
continued renewal that new music brings to the tradition."
- Cindy Cox , Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
II. LAURELS recognizes and addresses an historic and present-day under-representation of women art-music composers, the need for greater visibility of and access to women art-music composer role models, and the greater promotion, dissemination, and academic documentation of their work.
"As we begin the 21st century, the one question that I hear most prominently in journals and newspaper articles, in academia and
in the concert halls, is where are the women composers? Why is there so little representation in course work or on the
stage?...Part of the problem is the lack of viable communication, through recordings, to make performers, teachers and
music directors aware of what is currently available."
- Jennifer Higdon, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"One of the main attributes of the project is to increase the visibility of women composers, still very much underrepresented
in art music performances despite the break through of some composers such as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, winner of a Pulitzer Prize.
I am concerned that we will go back to 'reinventing the wheel' if more is not done to encourage the music of women composers."
- Ruth Lomon, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"Having been actively involved in the production and performance of women's music for many years, I am acutely aware of the dearth
of opportunities for the exposure of new music, especially for solo instruments, by women composers. When National Public Radio
and Public Radio International can program a hundred hours of classical music before one new work by a woman composer is heard...
we begin to realize the extent to which we must promote the work of women composers and educate not only the public, but the
purveyors of music, to the fine work available."
- Jeanne E. Shaffer, Ph.D, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"While I do not think of myself as a 'woman composer' (I'm just a composer who is also female), I do believe in the importance
of presenting positive role models in this most difficult and competitive field, especially for young women who wish to compose,
but are perhaps daunted..."
- Melinda Wagner, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"Women composers like myself have recently enjoyed a surge of recognition and respect in this traditionally male-dominated
area of the fine arts. This has come to pass only because of the dedication and persistent efforts of many of the women and men
who have strived towards this goal in the past few decades. However, I believe this work is not finished, and that [LAURELS] will
significantly aid the cause of dissolving the barriers of gender bias in music and the arts."
- Nancy Galbraith, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
It was not until Kokopelli, by Katherine Hoover, first recorded in 1993, that a solo flute work by an American Women Composer has been recorded more than once.
III. LAURELS addresses the need for the expansion of flute literature by contemporary American women composers, flute literature representing a diversity of contemporary styles, and examples of collaborative arts-integrating commissioning ventures which embrace and promote overarching culturally significant goals.
"The project is valuable as a fresh and stimulating contribution to contemporary art music and flute literature. Additionally,
the focus on 21st century American women composers opens a new window in recognizing the unique voices of an important group."
- Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"[Assimakopoulos] is building an exciting new repertoire that will add diversity to the college curricula as well as fostering
professional partnerships among flutists and composers throughout the world."
- Marilyn Bliss, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"[LAURELS] expands the literature for solo flute, both initially, and secondarily, through partnerships with professional flutists
and teachers, in this country and abroad."
- Binnette Lipper, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
"Since all the music will be premiered by Ms. Assimakopoulos, she is single-handedly generating a large body of works for solo
flute that would not otherwise exist by some of the best known women composers in America."
- Elizabeth Vercoe, Laurels 2004-2005 Roster Composer
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