October 17-December 3, 2009
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University Library, University Illini Union, Alice Campbell Alumni Center, Virginia Theatre and Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois

Planned Events

Many of America’s greatest accomplishments were the products of the indomitable spirit of women whose names and stories are indelibly etched into our nation’s collective memory: Martha Graham, Georgia O’Keere, Leontyne Price, Margaret Mead, Virginia Apgar, Clara Barton, Jovita Idár, Sandra Day O’Connor, Shirley Chisholm, Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, Juliette Low, Harriet Tubman, and Mary Harris “Mother” Jones. However for much of our country’s first hundred years most American women were permitted only to perform music within the home and church, and for those few women who played professionally they were predominantly singers of opera and other theatrical music. With the birth of the Women’s Rights Movement in 1848 and the National and American Suffrage Associations in 1869, the ground work was laid for such renowned women musicians as Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (1863-1927 piano), Maud Powell (1867-1920 violin) and Helen May Butler (1867-1957 band director) to lead the future for women as professional musicians.

The University of Illinois and the Urbana-Champaign community’s 2009 American Music Month celebration explores the unique stories and music of some of America’s leading 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century women musicians to illustrate their impact on America’s music heritage today. Carol Jantsch, the youngest member of the Philadelphia Orchestra and first woman to hold a principal tuba chair in one of the nation’s top orchestras, will join members of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra to kick off this year’s programming with a special solo and chamber music recital. A special performance master class for college and public school low-brass students also will be offered by Jantsch the day before this concert to illustrate that there are no boundaries to tuba performance.

A two-day festival for public- and home-school string students entitled, "If You Ain’t Got the Do Re Mi: the 1930s through America’s Music," will introduce participants to traditional orchestral and simple jazz fiddle techniques, the birth of the folk revival, swing dance, and improvisation. In addition there will be presentations on brass and string territory bands, the age of radio, and the roles played by early radio and record companies to promote popular music throughout North America. New planned exhibits installed at the Center for American Music and the University Library’s Marshall Gallery, highlighting how women redefined American musical life, will included "On the Road with the Women’s Air Force Band," "Lady in White: the Virginia Root Story," and "The New American Brass Band: Helen May Butler and Her Ladies."

Central to this year’s music celebration will again be the Granny’s Porch concert at the historic Virginia Theatre. This year’s program entitled, "America’s 1930s through Music," will feature Gary O'Brien, Marlys Scarbrough, Ron Hedlund and Eric Dalheim, Jack Deremiah, Jordan Kay and the State Street Strutters, Flexible Flyers, Vintage Brass Band, Amasong, Bow-Dacious String Band, and the Schwartz Family Headin’ Home. Concluding this year's music celebration we return to the dance floor with the Tony Barron Orchestra and another exciting program, "Ballroom Boogie: Music and Dance from America's 1930s," which relives the sights, sounds, and enchantment of dancing to the melodies of Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Guy Lombardo and the Casa Loma Orchestra.

Sponsors:
David Kamm, Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, University of Illnois, 1958
Champaign-Urbana Symphony
Homewood Suites by Hilton
School of Music
Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Partners:
Community Center for the Arts
Champaign Park District and Virginia Theatre
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
University of Illinois Library
University of Illinois Alumni Association

We invite you to join us as we celebrate through concerts, lectures, master classes and exhibitions, the special impact women had on America’s diverse music and cultural heritage. For further information view the events calendar.