“Feminine Fusion” is a weekly radio program that highlights the influence of women in classical music. These are the women throughout history and into the present day who create, perform, and inspire. Composer/announcer Diane Jones of WCNY-FM in Syracuse, NY is your host, and every week showcases some of these remarkable women.
Women are the central, unifying focus of this series. It is important to note, however, that their influence is broad-ranging, crossing the boundaries of culture, race, and gender. Who can know what might have happened to the likes of Aaron Copland, Donald Byrd, or Quincy Jones had they not studied with Nadia Boulanger?
“Had you asked me 10 years ago if I would have introduced a program focused on women in music, I would have said ‘no.’ Growing up in a houseful of brothers, I was always treated as their equal,” says Jones. “But there is still gender bias in the music world. I am anxious for the time when we no longer separate composers from women composers, or conductors from women conductors.”
Some of the individuals highlighted in this program entered the world of the arts knowing they faced opposition, and gathered their strength to face it head on. Others simply took to their chosen path, often unaware of the impact their actions would have. In every case, however, they have touched hearts and souls with their art.
Diane Jones
Diane Jones is the host of Feminine Fusion, aired every week on WCNY-FM. An active composer, she has received commissions from nationally and internationally-recognized musicians and ensembles, as well as completing 5 residencies in Syracuse area schools, introducing young musicians to composition. Diane performs regularly with Samba Laranja and the Central New York Flute Choir, and her music has been featured on two SAMMY-award winning CDs. Follow Diane on Twitter (@ComposerJones) and Facebook (here or here) for more about her programming and her music.
| Air Date | Program Title | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 15 - 20 | Voices Raised, Part 6 | Performances from women's choirs around the world | |
| June 21 - 28 | Strung Along, Part 4 | Performances from women playing strings | |
| June 29 - July 5 | Independence Day | Celebrating US history and achievements | |
| July 6 - 12 | A Little Romance | Works by women from the Romantic era | |
| July 13 - 19 | Patchwork Quilt, Part XLII | No special theme, just wonderful works and performances by women | |
| July 20 - 26 | One Life: Ellen Taaffe Zwillich | A look at the life and music of Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, the first woman to with the Pulitzer Prize in Music | |
| July 27 - Aug 2 | Strings and Things | Women's chamber music featuring strings and...? | |
| Aug 3 - 9 | Taking the Lead | Women at the podium leading the orchestra | |
| Aug 10 - 16 | Always a Classic | Who were the women writing in Haydn and Mozart's time? | |
| Aug 17 - 23 | O, Canada, Part 3 | Let's travel north to hear from women composing and performing in Canada | |
| Aug 24 - 30 | Season 8 Wrap-up | A look back at what we've heard in Season 8 of Feminine Fusion! |
March 29, 2025
“One of those lovelorn sonatas for wind instruments was riding past on a solemn white horse. Everybody wondered who the new arrival was.” – John Ashbery This week we take a listen to women playing woodwinds! Sounds of the flute, oboe, bassoon and clarinet all fill the air in this episode. Winds of Change Eugene Bozza: Image Olga Reiser, flute “Flute Tales” Solo Musica 375 Lowell Lieberman: Sonata for Flute and Harp Odile Renault, flute; Elodie Reibaud, harp “Musikalische Perlen” Ars Produktion Robert K. Mueller: Commemoration: In Honor of Fallen Heroes Theresa Delaplain, oboe; Tomoko Kashiwagi, piano “Souvenirs” MSR Classics 1691 Madeleine Dring: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano Three Wood Trio (Rebecca Mindock, oboe; Kirsten Boldt-Neurohr, bassoon; Laurie Anne Hunter, piano) “Three Wood Trio” Centaur 3226 W.A. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 6221 (Mvt. 2) Annelien van Wauwe, clarinet North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; Andrew […] Read More
March 22, 2025
“We’re going to the park to chase and charge and chew and I will make you see what spring is all about” – Marilyn Singer, from “April Is a Dog’s Dream” Once again, a program filled very simply with words and music. Enjoy these springtime poems by women, paired with women’s music. “Words and Music: Spring” Andrea Clearfield & Charlotte Mew: Let Us Remember Spring Laura Strickland, soprano Daniel Schlosberg, piano “40@40” Bright Shiny Things 0183 Helen Grime: A Cold Spring The Hallé Soloists; Jamie Phillips, conductor “Helen Grime: Night Songs” Debut Discs 199 Florence Price: Spring Karen Slack, soprano; Michelle Cann, piano “Florence Price: Beyond the Years” Azica Records 71370 Roxana Panufnik: Spring in Japan (from Four World Seasons) BBC Symphony Orchestra; Tasmin Little, violin/conductor Graham Bradshaw, cello “A Violin for All Seasons” Chandos 5175 Elizabeth Younan: Your Heart Dreams of Spring Jennifer Koh, violin “Alone Together” Cedille […] Read More
March 15, 2025
“You’re there to help create a sonic arc that will carry the scene and translate the emotion that the film dictates and that the director wants.” – Kathryn Bostic This week, women composing for film and television. How many do you know? “Film Music” Starr Parodi (with Jeff Eden Fair): Have I Got a Book for You “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry” (original soundtrack) Lakeshore Records 36336 Nainita Desai: Excerpts from The Reason I Jump “The Reason I Jump” (original soundtrack) Mercury 3564295 Ariel Marx: Excerpts from A Friend of the Family “A Friend of the Family” (original soundtrack) Lakeshore Records 36339 Nami Melumad: Excerpts from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (original soundtrack) Lakeshore Records 36289 Allyson Newman & Heather Mcintosh: Excerpts from The L Word: Generation Q “The L Word: Generation Q” (original soundtrack) Milan 010004647416 Kathryn Bostic: Excerpts from Amy Tan: Unintended […] Read More
March 8, 2025
“Music is the superlative expression of life experience, and woman by the very nature of her position is denied many of the experiences that colour the life of man.” Amy Cheney Beach In everything we do, there has to be someone who does it first. This week, a look at the groundbreakers, women in classical music who were “the first.” “Groundbreakers” Henryk Wieniawski: Capriccio-Valse Maud Powell, violin Arthur Loesser, piano “The Art of Maud Powell, Vol. 2” Maud Powell 2 Gunther Schuller: Quartet for Double Basses Orin O’Brien, double bass Robert Gladstone, Frederick Zimmerman, Alvin Brehm – double bass “Music for the Underdogs of the Orchestra” GM Recordings 2004 Claude Debussy: Claire de Lune Anna Lelkes, harp “Debussy and Chill” PMI Collins Classics 11262 Nicolai Miaskovsky: Two Pieces for String Orchestra Veronika Dudarova, conductor Moscow Symphony Orchestra; Bolshoi Theater Soloists Ensemble “Music of the First October Years” Olympia […] Read More
March 1, 2025
“Don’t do work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Awards season is here, so let’s take a look back to the 2021 Grammy awards and take note of some of the women whose contributions were honored. Even More Prize Winners Luna Pearl Woolf: Deep in the Water, Too Deep for Tears, (from Après moi, le déluge) Matt Haimovitz, cello Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Julian Wachner, conductor “Fire and Flood” Pentatone 186803 Lili Boulanger: Reflets and Attente Nicholas Phan, tenor; Myra Huang, piano “Clairières” Avie 2414 Nadia Boulanger: Cantique Nicholas Phan, tenor; Myra Huang, piano “Clairières” Avie 2414 Dame Ethel Smyth: The Prison (excerpts) Dashon Burton, tenor; Sarah Brailey, soprano Experiential Chorus; Experiental Orchestra; James Blachly, conductor “The Prison” Chandos 5279 Michael Tilson Thomas: From the Diary of Anne Frank, Part 1 Isabel Leonard, narrator San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, […] Read More
February 22, 2025
“[We want] to challenge the narrative that people of African descent aren’t capable of writing at this level. To challenge the narrative that Black people can’t sing or conduct complex, challenging music, or produce dynamic works. To continue to challenge the imposed identity of Blackness as lacking the depth or breadth of variety and intelligent creation.” Aria Mason, Co-founder/Production Director of Opera Créole. This week we travel to New Orleans to meet the mother-and-daughter duo who co-founded Opera Créole. These amazing women are committed to researching, preserving, and presenting lost or rarely-performed works by composers of African descent. “Women of Color – Portrait: Opera Créole” Basile Barés: La Creole Peter Collins, piano “Music of Basile Barés” Centaur 2835 Scott Joplin: Treemonisha (excerpts) Original cast orchestra & chorus; Gunther Schuller, conductor Betty Allen (Monisha); Edward Pierson (Parson Alltalk) “Treemonisha” Deutsche Grammophon 4589 Lucien Lambert: Brocéliande Hot Springs Music Festival; Richard Rosenberg, conductor […] Read More
February 15, 2025
“Everyone just really needs that one big opportunity, and you knock it out of the ballpark, and that starts it.” – Chanda Dance Every day, more and more women of color are being recognized for their musical contributions. This episode highlights some of these women who are composing works that are reflective, innovative, and captivating. “Women of Color – Composers, Part 8” Valerie Capers: Ruby: Tableau IV. Reflections Members of the African American Composer Initiative “Where Freedom Rings” Cambria 1238 Nia Imani Franklin: Afro-dite Matt Haimovitz, cello “Primavera II: The Rabbits” Pentatone 186293 Nkeiru Okoye: Dusk & Drums Talking (from African Sketches) Maria Thompson Corley, piano “Soulscapes 2” MSR Classics 1744 Ysaye Maria Barnwell: Wanting Memories Mansfield University Concert Choir Peggy Dettwiler, director “I Can Tell the World (Live)” Mark Records 4871 Shirley Thompson: Life Sequences Electric Voice Theater “The Franklin Effect” First Hand 051 Hannah Kendall: The […] Read More
February 8, 2025
“I’d never heard anybody play like that – short pearls on the string that just rung with the sweetness of honey.” – Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama Women of color are still a relative rarity in the classical music world. So on this episode, we’ll hear performances from several women working today, and making new paths and opportunities for tomorrow. Women of Color: Performers, Part 8 Flutronix & Third Coast Percussion: Play, from Rubix Flutronix (Nathalie Joachim & Allison Loggins-Hull) Third Coast Percussion “Perspectives” Cedille 210 Judith Lang Zaimont: Serenade Melissa White, violin Paul Wiancko, cello; Awadagin Pratt, piano “Eternal Evolution: The Music of Judith Lang Zaimont” Navona 5846 Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama: Sonoran Storm Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama, viola “Sonoran Storm” EDI Records Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 41 Melina Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola/founder Dover Quartet “R. Schumann: String Quartets, Op. 41” Azica 71331 Amanda Harberg: Prayer Julietta Curenton, […] Read More
February 1, 2025
“People can’t be what they can’t see. Representation matters.” – Kalena Bovell, conductor There are many ways to inspire young musicians. Just performing, being a visible example of what is achievable, can be more influential than you may realize. And of course, being an educator has a direct impact on others. Not to mention arts organizers and leaders in advocacy organizations. This episode highlights women of color who are leaders, in a myriad of roles, providing guidance and inspiration to others along their way. “Women of Color – Leaders, Part 5” Zenobia Powell Perry: Cycle of Songs on Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar (excerpts) Darryl Taylor, tenor; Deon Nielsen Price, piano “Music of Zenobia Powell Perry: Art Songs and Piano Music” Cambria 1138 Adriana Holszky: Floten des Lichts Kay George Roberts, conductor Renate Brosch, soprano; Commonwealth Winds “Message” CPO 999290 Julia Perry: Short Piece for Orchestra Imperial Philharmonic […] Read More
January 25, 2025
“Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden.” – Cormac McCarthy On this episode of Feminine Fusion, music inspired by some of the most critical – and sometimes frightening – elements: Fire and Ice. Each is vital to our modern existence. Fire warms us in the winter, and ice cools us when we are fevered, yet each can also be frightening and overpowering, and the works today reflect many aspects of these elements. “Fire and Ice, Part 2” Ralph Towner: When the Fire Burns Low Tomomi Kohno, guitar “Luxe” Act Infini 1031 Bernat Vivancos: Vocal Ice for Soprano and Cello Octet Nurial Rial, soprano 8 Cellists of the Basel Symphony Orchestra “Vocalise” Sony 88883754452 Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian: Firedance Upton Trio “These Are Different Times” Albany 1151 Dobrinka Tabakova: Frozen River Flows Roman Mints, violin; Donatas Bagurskas, double bass; Raimondas Sviackevicius, accordian “String Paths” ECM New Series 4764826 […] Read More
