Stefania Turkevych was one of Galicia’s most talented and prolific classical composers – and then the Russian Revolution turned her world upside down. When she fled the USSR to find a new home, through Italy, Ireland, and to her final home in England, her work was lauded all across the continent.
But fame is fickle when nobody speaks your language! Discover this forgotten star – Ukraine’s first female classical composer – with our guest Dr. Erica Glenn.
Erica Glenn is a current Fulbright Scholar and Director of Choral Activities at Brigham Young University – Hawaii. Previously, she worked at Arizona State University, conducting the Women’s Chorus, teaching Beginning Conducting (Teaching Excellence Award), and serving as chorus master for operas. She also co-founded the Arizona Women’s Collaborative and Phoenix Singing. Glenn holds a BM/MM in Music Composition and an Ed.M. in The Arts in Education (Harvard). She is the 2020 recipient of an American Councils Grant, a Knowledge Mobilization Award, a Creative Constellation Grant, and Melikian Center funding for her research into Stefania Turkevych, Ukraine’s first female composer. Glenn recently presented at the Ukrainian Institute of America and the Longy New Music Festival, and she has led interest sessions at ACDA and AATSEEL. Her original opera (Dreamweaver) won the International VocalWorks Competition, and her musical (The Weaver of Raveloe) was performed at both the NY Musical Theatre Festival and the American Repertory Theatre.
I listened to this episode while walking on our nature trail. What beautiful music to hear while seeing such beautiful scenery.