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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

2020 Focus Festival, Trailblazers: Pioneering Women Composers of the 20th Century

Jan 24–31, 2020
60 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, United States

Unjustly neglected? Judge for yourself as unsung talents like Elisabeth Luytens, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Ursula Mamlok get a shot beside their not-quite-forgotten sisters Ethyl Smyth and Betsy Jolas, the dimly remembered Thea Musgrave and Ruth Crawford-Seeger, and the certified crackpot genius Sofia Gubaidulina, still with us in her high 80s. Nor must we forget Jacqueline Fontyn, who premieres a new work on the opening program. Gubaidulina’s senior by a year, Fontyn bears the title of baroness, bestowed by the King of the Belgians for lifetime achievement as a composer and educator. —M.G.