Illuminate Women's Music
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A blog series on women composers from the past and present

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Yfat Soul Zisso Illuminate Season II 2019 composer

9/23/2019

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​In recent years, and growing alongside my enthralment with creating quarter-tonal soundworlds, I have been fascinated with psychology and with different ways of expressing and connecting to emotions using music. 
 
Most of my pieces now have a relatively complex story behind them of various characters with different traits, all reacting to one another, creating the structure (or journey) of the piece. At the same time as building these big characters and stories inside my head, the music representing them has gotten more and more minimal, focused, and more importantly – vulnerable. It’s like every single melodic fragment represents somebody’s whole world, their entire outlook on life. The pain they try to hide, now fully visible in musical form, encompassing what they have been through and who they are now.
In this time of seemingly perfect social media lives, with many of us rebelling by sharing honestly about our struggles with mental health and career setbacks, I want to believe that this type of vulnerability in music is necessary. To be able to admit our pain and connect deeply with our emotions rather than run away from them is what makes us stronger. To connect to it in music is cathartic. 
 
The first piece I wrote which represents this type of approach is Postlude, for viola and cello, written in 2014 at the Dartington advanced composition course. To express this emotional rawness using quarter-tones felt so liberating that I knew I had found my voice.
 
In contrast, Together, alone is about staying still while everyone around you finds their own voice, their own journey - making you feel more and more lonely, even when surrounded by people. It was written during a difficult time in my life when I was struggling with finding my own identity outside of music. 
 
I hope that the emotional vulnerability in this and my other pieces inspires others to be honest about their own emotions and struggles, so that we all feel a little less alone.  ​
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    Authors


    Dr Helen Thomas
    Dr Rhian Davies
    ​Dr Laura Dallman
    ​Alex Burns
    ​Dr Gemma McGregor
    ​Sarah Westwood
    Carol J Jones
    Dr Blair Boyd
    Dr Angela Elizabeth Slater
    Laura Shipsey
    Kerensa Briggs
    Dr Kendra Leonard
    Elizabeth de Brito

    Dr Steph Power
    Lara Poe
    ​Nina Danon
    ​Sabina Pena Young
    Mason Bynes

    Composers
    Morfydd Owen
    Libby Larsen
    Lili Boulanger
    Louise Marie Simon
    Amy Beach
    Sarah Westwood
    Carol J Jones
    Arlene Sierra
    Gemma McGregor
    Angela Elizabeth Slater
    ​Clara 
    Schumann
    ​
    Hélène de Montgeroult
    ​Blair Boyd
    ​Fumiko Miyachi
    Grażyna Bacewicz
    ​
    Hilda Jerea
    ​
    Jennifer Higdon
    ​Thea Musgrave
    ​Elizabeth Maconchy
    ​
    Laura Shipsey
    Kerensa Briggs
    Caroline Bordignon
    ​Vivian Fine
    Barbara Strozzi
    Joanna Ward
    Yfat Soul Zisso
    Angela Elizabeth Slater (vid)
    Blair Boyd (vid)
    Sarah Westwood (vid)
    ​Kaija Saariaho
    Ailsa Dixon
    ​
    Charlotte Bray
    ​Angela Elizabeth Slater - blog on Suncatcher
    ​Steph Power
    Lara Poe
    ​Nina Danon
    Amanda Aldridge
    ​Carrie Jacob Bonds

    ​Sabina Pena Young
    Mason Bynes

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  • Home
  • About
    • Illuminate
  • What's On!
    • Illuminate Scotland tour
    • Support Illuminate Women's Music
  • Illuminate Scotland Artists
  • Illuminate Blog
  • Past Illuminate Women's Music series
    • Illuminate performers Spring 2023
    • Illuminate composers Spring 2023
    • Illuminate Video premieres
    • Illuminate 2022 concerts
    • Illuminate 2021 artists >
      • Illuminate 2021 Artists Season I
      • Illuminate Season II Artists 2021
      • Illuminate Spring 2023 - What's on!
    • Whats on 2021 Season I and II
    • 2020 Season I Artists
    • Digital artists >
      • Digital series - What's On
    • Illuminate at RCM 2020
    • Illuminate Extra at Nottingham!
    • Illuminate 2019 Season II concert series >
      • Illuminate at RCM 2019
      • 2019 Season II Artists
      • 2019 Season II What's Was On!
      • Season II Composer interview videos
    • Illuminate 2019 Season I Concert series >
      • 2019 Season I What's Was On!
      • 2019 Season I Artists
      • Gallery of 2019 Season I concerts
      • Season I 2019 Video gallery
    • 2018 Illuminate touring concert series >
      • Performers (2018)
      • Composers (2018)
      • Gallery of Illuminate 2018 concert series
      • Videos from Illuminate 2018 concert series
      • 2018 - What Was On!
  • Contact
  • Digital concert on 20th November