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Women of Note

A Concert of Choral Music Writen by Female Composers

Coming on the Saturday before International Women's Day in 2024, at this concert Reading Phoenix Choir will be performing only choral music that has been written by female composers; who include Vittoria Aleotti, Sally Beamish, Kerensa Briggs, Elaine Hagenberg, Cecilia McDowall, Sarah Quartel and Hildegard Von Bingen.

The highlight of the evening will be a performance of Cecilia McDowall's cantata "Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo", which tells the remarkable story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy who taught herself English by watching American television in her home in Aleppo, Syria. She then, at 16, travelled over 3,500 miles to Germany by having her wheelchair pushed by her sister. Her story became an international sensation and has been set to music by Cecilia McDowall. Reading Phoenix Choir will be joined by Taplow Boys' Choir in this performance.

Click here to watch Cecilia McDowall talking about this piece