The Ladies Speak

Gena Branscombe rose from the depths of great personal tragedy to write what was hailed as one of the finest oratorios of its time. Listen now to her story, and the journey of mezzo-soprano Kathleen Shimeta to preserve Branscombe's legacy in this century.

Margaret Ruthven Lang was the first woman composer to write a work performed by a major American orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1893. She went on to write many piano works and songs that were performed and lauded around the world. Yet she quit composing in 1917, at the age of 50. Find out why, and the importance of her work to American music history, in the first episode of The Ladies Speak. Hosted by Fuse Ensemble founder Gina Biver, and featuring interviews with Juliana Yap, James Johnston, and Grammy-nominated pianist Lucy Mauro.

The docuseries The Ladies Speak explores the lives and achievements of the great, and largely unknown, American women classical composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries.