This Mother’s Day, The Moirae Ensemble, in collaboration with Sandcastle New Music Collective, presents Eleven Steps to Breaking up a Hart: Celebrating Women in Contemporary Music and Poetry, an evening of classical music and poetry. The program explores the experiences of women over the last 100 years through the music of Stephanie Ann Boyd, Evan Fein, and Gity Razaz, and the poetry of Adriana Socoski and Monica Ferrell.

The concerts showcases the premiere of Ms. Boyd’s Hart Songs, a song cycle for soprano and string trio, a setting of text from Monica Ferrell’s collection of poems Eleven Steps to Breaking up a Hart, from her first book of poetry Beasts of the Chase, winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Prize. This set of poems examines a relationship seven years after it has ended; the narrator wades through and confronts her memories of the past relationship, projecting these recollections through the lens of mythology.

Also on the program is Ms. Razaz’s The Yellow Wallpaper, a song cycle based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story of the same title. Written for and premiered by The Moirae Ensemble in 2013, this work examines the treatment of postpartum depression in the early 1900’s. In addition, the evening will feature the American premiere of scenes from City of Ashes, libretto by Emily Anderson, an opera following the brutal treatment of the women of Berlin by occupying Russian soldiers in the days immediately following the end of WWII.

Throughout the program Moirae’s poet-in-residence, Adriana Socoski, will share her work, and special guest Monica Ferrell will discuss her poem and read selections. The program will immediately be followed by a discussion and audience Q&A with the artists, as well as a short reception.

The Moirae Ensemble is a musical collective based in New York City that interweaves classical music with themes of social responsibility. Drawing from a roster of some of New York’s finest and most innovative young musicians and composers, the ensemble focuses on contemporary classical music, commissioning works that push the boundaries of what it means to be a traditional chamber music ensemble. The Moirae Ensemble performs and commissions socially relevant works that address a wide range of humanitarian concerns, with a particular focus on women composers and social issues that particularly affect women. Sandcastle New Music Collective was founded in 2015 by recent conservatory graduates as a surrogate for lessons and studio classes. Since then, it has evolved into a platform for a broad range of composers to share insights with one another and with audiences.

Featured performers include Meredith Lustig, Catherine Hancock, Sofia Nowik, and others.

Organized by: Moirae Ensemble