NEWS
Congratulations to Claudette Sorel Piano Competition winner!
Pictured: Competition Director Dr. Eliran Avni with winner Anna Bray
Sorel Organization Summer 2023 E-News – Recordings!
As the inaugural Claudette Sorel Visiting Artist at the State University of New York at Fredonia, composer Chen Yi returned to the School of Music in early February for a second residency week. The acclaimed composer, who was born in China and lived through the Cultural Revolution, has written for seemingly every combination of instruments, voices and ensembles. Over 300 students and faculty met with her for rehearsals, master classes and concerts of her music. Fredonia is where Claudette Sorel taught for many years; she was the first woman named Distinguished University Professor in the entire SUNY system. Chen Yi’s residency also included a “Women in Music” roundtable panel with Sorel Organization Managing Director Wende Persons. View Sorel residency events on the School of Music’s YouTube LIVE page.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Sorel Organization founder Claudette Sorel: her life as a pianist, teacher, and philanthropist, deeply committed to helping women achieve opportunity and equity in their musical careers. She focused her philanthropy particularly on women composers and conductors, as measurable areas of change. If she were still alive, she would be encouraged by the galvanizing increases in representation in concert halls and performing arts venues across the country! Click here to view the Fall newsletter on the Sorel Organization’s recent charitable activities.
U.S. Orchestras are playing more works by women and minorities
“American orchestras have long fallen short when it comes to performing compositions by women and people of color, sticking to a canon of music dominated by white, largely male composers,” says The New York Times in an article published 6/21/22. Responding to a new report released by the Institute for Composer Diversity at the State University of New York at Fredonia, the Times continues: “The protests over racial justice and gender disparities in the United States appear to have prompted some change. Compositions by women and people of color now make up about 23 percent of the pieces performed by orchestras, up from only 5 percent in 2015.” Is the change in programming for the 2021-22 season an outlier or a tipping point? Learn more... Download the report
Tania León receives Sorel Legacy Medallion
Sorel Classics moves to a new label home
We are pleased to announce that Music and Arts Programs of America, Inc., the Berkeley-based non-profit classical and jazz record label, recently acquired the Sorel Classics label to distribute the existing CD titles and projects, and to co-produce future recordings for the Sorel Organization. The Board of Directors and the Management of Music & Arts were especially drawn to the Sorel mission “to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women musicians in the fields of conducting, composition, film scoring, performance, arts leadership, education, and scholarship.” Sorel Classics projects will augment the recorded repertoire by highlighting the contributions of women in music..
Explore Sorel Classics on Music & Arts.com
Sorel Organization May 2022 E-News
For an update of the Sorel Organization’s recent charitable activities, click here to view the May 2022 newsletter.
Project to diversity classical recordings wins national radio contest
All Classical Portland, the Pacific Northwest’s 24-hour classical radio station, launched the Recording Inclusivity Initiative in January with the goal to address the lack of widely available recordings by women composers and composers of color. “If we don’t have them, we can’t play them,” stated CEO Suzanne Nance, who is leading the effort to make new recordings and recruiting classical stations across the country to join the Initiative. On November 9th ACP’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative was voted winner of Current’s 2021 “Local That Works” contest, which recognizes excellence in public media content and community engagement. The Sorel Organization is supporting the creation of a database for stations to share recordings and expand the playlists of classical stations nationwide. Read more here.
Watch ACP’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative video.
Claudette Sorel Rediscovered commemorative 2CD set reveals the artistry and musical curiosity of a late, great pianist and advocate for women in music
The Sorel Organization is thrilled to share the news of the release of a commemorative CD set celebrating the musical artistry of the late, great Sorel Organization founder, Claudette Sorel. She was first and foremost a pianist, and a phenomenal one at that.
Claudette Sorel Rediscovered spotlights gems from her out of print recordings on two discs of solo pieces and American concertos. We honor her legacy as a musician and as a philanthropist fiercely dedicated to creating opportunities for women in music through her charitable foundation. Read more
JoAnn Falletta joins
Sorel Organization Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Sorel Organization is thrilled to welcome the acclaimed, Grammy-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta as its newest member! Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, JoAnn is a vibrant trailblazer and inspiration for the advancement of women in the arts and the expansion of classical music’s canon. Her association with the Sorel Organization dates back to 1996 when her friend Claudette Sorel launched the foundation with JoAnn as a founding Advisory Board member.
SOREL ORGANIZATION 2021 UPDATE
For an update of the Sorel Organization’s recent strategies and directions in charitable giving, click here to view the newsletter shared by the Board of Directors in late February 2021.
Voices of Ascension launches Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space
Nine women composers have set the words of women astronauts to music in Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space, which received its online premiere in January 2021. Commissioned by Voices of Ascension, with support from the Sorel Organization, Astronautica is an hourlong presentation conceived and performed by Trio Triumphatrix that creatively blends voices, music, and video created from NASA footage. Click the image to view the teaser video.
Amplifying Voices unites 30+ orchestras to address inequities in classical music
New Music USA’s Amplifying Voices program, launched in January 2020 to promote marginalized voices in orchestral music, is growing to include at least 35 orchestras, which are working together to shift the canon for future generations. This increasing momentum, made possible by new funding from the Sorel Organization, ASCAP and Wise Music Trust, demonstrates recognition amongst orchestras that new and inclusive approaches to programming are critical for future relevance. The Sphinx Organization kick-started this initiative with a generous contribution from the Sphinx Venture Fund.
Winner named in the Fifth Annual Claudette Sorel Piano Competition.
Claudette Sorel was a former child prodigy who encouraged the talents of young musicians throughout her career as a performer and educator. View the finals of the Fifth Annual Claudette Sorel Piano Competition for pianists, ages 15-18, produced by the Fredonia School of Music, where Claudette taught for many years and was the first woman to be named Distinguished University Professor in New York State's University System. The 2020 winner is revealed at the end of the broadcast.
American Composers Forum Explores What the 19th Amendment Means for Women in Music in 2020
The American Composers Forum (ACF), in partnership with the media platform I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL), has launched a new initiative called “UNEVEN MEASURES: Artists Reflect on the 19th Amendment in 2020.” The centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving white women the right to vote, provides an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment while highlighting the complexity of women’s suffrage and exclusion to participation, even in 2020. From August 18 (the ratification date) through the Presidential election on November 3, ACF and ICIYL are inviting artists to share what the 19th Amendment means to them through UNEVEN MEASURES, a series dedicated to advancing gender equity in 2020, and prioritizing racial equity.
Women have been contributing to America’s musical life for centuries. The album Voices in the Wilderness, featuring music by 18th-century female composers in Pennsylvania’s Ephrata Cloister, is due out in Spring 2021.
Listen to NPR’s Morning Edition feature.
Forte—A Film by David Donnelly, supported in part by The Sorel Organization, received its Washington DC premiere at The Kennedy Center on March 12, 2020.
Lucia Caruso, an Argentinian composer and pianist who lives in New York City, both stars in and scored the music for Forte, about three groundbreaking women in the arts.
12.27.1958 - 9.18.2019
It is with heartfelt sadness that we share the news of the passing of Sorel Organization Executive Director Judy Cope on September 18, 2019 after a brave battle with brain cancer. Judy touched so many lives and careers through her spirited advocacy for women in music. The world is a dimmer place without her special light.
The Sorel Organization has established The Judy Cope Fund for Women in Music, with proceeds from the fund to further special projects in Judy’s memory. To contribute, click here.
Read Judy’s obituary in The New York Times.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Sorel Organization provided a grant for Emily’s tuition for NYU's summer Screen Scoring Workshop when she was 10 years old, the youngest participant ever, by far. She has gone on to become a a Billboard best-selling jazz pianist, songwriter, and multi-genre composer.
Settling the Score: Women Conductors Talk About the Slow Road to Equality
Eight of the world’s 100 top conductors are now women, compared to just
Composer Lera Auerbach dedicates the premiere performances of her work “Eva's Complaint - O Flowers That Will Never Blossom” for Orchestra, co-commissioned by The Sorel Organization, to the life of Judy Cope.
New Sorel Classics Release:
Pianist Anna Shelest surveys music by women composers of the last three centuries in her new album ‘Donna Voce’
First Prize Winner of the Sorel Medallion in Choral Composition Dobrinka Tabakova announced BBC Concert Orchestra new Composer In Residence
The Sorel Forward
A Celebration of Women in Music
Sunday, February 24, 2019, 2 PM
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Join us as we honor the legacy of pianist, teacher, and philanthropist Claudette Sorel.
A look inside the uniquely made-for-TV-and-online opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser by a winner of Sorel Medallion in Choral Composition Lisa Bielawa
Kronos Quartet and soprano Rowen Sabala (Vireo). Photo by David Soderlund
The top 35 female composers in classical music
Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Claudette Sorel Piano Competition at Fredonia School of Music.
Zohra – The Afghan Women’s Orchestra – is winner of Freemuse Award 2017
The Sorel Legacy Medallion
Congratulations to the 2016 Sorel Medallion Contest Winners!
Martha Sullivan - 1st place
Jocelyn Hagen - 2nd place
Winners will receive a New York debut with Voices of Ascension and $5,000 and $2,000 cash prizes. The 1st place winner will also have a performance in the birthplace of William Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon, UK, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Bard.
From left to right Arlene Shrut - the 2016 Legacy Medallion winner, Jocelyn Hagen - the 2nd place winner, Martha Sullivan - the 1st place winner, Judy Cope - Executive Director, the Sorel Organization.
Cracking a Glass Ceiling With the Maestro’s Baton
Fascinating article on women conductors, including artists supported by the Sorel Organization
The Sorel Organization is proud to announce the first recipient of the Sorel Legacy Medallion, Dr. Arlene Shrut. Arlene has been one of collaborative piano’s highest profile females in a discipline that has suffered a pronounced gender gap. As a teacher and visionary, Arlene also shoulders responsibility for training the “musicians of tomorrow” by evaluating changing trends of both the art and profession of music in our culture.
Photo by Beth Caron
In an effort to honor its recipient in the highest fashion, the Sorel Organization seeks to customize each Legacy Medallion award. Dr. Shrut’s prize will focus on partnerships with organizations and schools for collaborative public performances, including master works, new compositions, and master classes. On behalf of the Board of Directors of The Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Charitable Foundation, Inc. we congratulate Dr. Arlene Shrut for her accomplishments in Collaborative Piano Arts. For more information about her work and creative projects, please visit www.arleneshrut.com
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