From Mary to Fatimah

As a globally sought-after conductor, Jessica Cottis is the perfect interpreter for a program that focuses on a diverse range of female composers. The evening's theme references Liza Lim's "Annunciation Triptych." Like Cottis, who hails from Australia, Lim's music is often a synthesis of contemporary expression and Far Eastern traditions.

In the three-part work from 2019/22, Lim pays tribute to three great female figures: the important ancient Greek poet Sappho (Bioluminescence), the Virgin Mary (Transcendence after Trauma), and Fatimah, the only daughter of the Islamic religious founder Muhammad (Flowers of Jubilation). The final part of the triptych also features a soprano voice, and even the audience is invited to sing along.

In contrast, Lera Auerbach, originally from the Ural Mountains, virtuously reinterprets tradition in her 2008 work "Sogno di Stabat Mater," specifically Giovanni Pergolesi's famous "Stabat Mater." This is an abridged version for solo violin, viola, and vibraphone from her 2005 piece "Dialogues with Stabat Mater." This version was created at the request of the Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer.

With «Within Her Arms» from 2009, the British woman living in the USA commemorates her mother: in the form of laments from the English Renaissance.

A new work by Helga Arias is also eagerly awaited. The Spanish artist, who lives in Switzerland, studied with Beat Furrer, among others, to explore noise-based sound effects, the latest techniques, and electroacoustics in her work.