Atalanta Festival of Women Composers
Friday: 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
In a 3-day concert marathon featuring 11 concerts, 9 Berlin ensembles and guest artists, a musical theater performance, and several concert talks, the festival highlights the music of female composers from various centuries.
With a 20-hour program, Atalanta champions a pluralistic music scene, women composers as the core of the contemporary music canon, and the musicians who perform their works. The festival invites you to spend an entire weekend listening to, enjoying, and celebrating the music of women composers!
As a huntress and the fastest runner in Greek mythology—as well as a symbol of courage, freedom, and rebellion—Atalanta lends her name to the festival, which will continue with additional editions in the coming years.
The festival is curated by Fidan Aghayeva-Edler.
For more information, visit https://www.atalanta-festival.com
Three world premieres, lecture-concerts, and chamber music ranging from Byzantine to contemporary
The first edition of the festival centers on three world premieres. Composers Jobina Tinnemans, Leonie Roessler, and Rachel C. Walker were commissioned to write works for harp, piano, and soprano, which will be premiered as solo performances by Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, Fidan Aghayeva-Edler, and Nina Guo, and which feature elements of experimentation and improvisation. These three concerts will be released from February through April 2027 on three digital albums via Aghayeva-Edler’s newly founded label, Salomé Records.
The festival presents chamber music by female composers from various centuries, ranging from the Byzantine composer Kassia through Baroque and Romantic music to the 20th and 21st centuries. A separate concert will be dedicated to the music of modernist female composers from Berlin, featuring works by Ruth Schonthal, Charlotte Schlesinger, Ursula Mamlok, and others.
Kyra Steckeweh and Samantha Ege (a musicologist researching black female composers in the U.S.) have also been invited—two pianists who have long been committed to performing music by female composers. Talk-concerts will take place with both artists.
Three Berlin ensembles, five duos, and a vocal trio
In addition to concerts lasting about an hour by the Berlin ensembles OpusXX, LUX:NM, and FrauVonDa, the festival program also features the duos BarCa, Ducomble & Yoon, Felsberga & Eckhaut, Keyes & Oppelt, Duo Amabile, and the vocal trio Trama Ensemble. In two lunch concerts, they will each present programs lasting about 20 minutes, spanning a musical arc from the Middle Ages to the present. OpusXX performs Baroque works, while LUX:NM focuses on contemporary music. Claudia van Hasselt, alias FrauVonDa, will present a song cycle featuring five world premieres. These works were commissioned specifically for the festival from five female composers.
Atalanta as a Live Performance
In a text-and-music performance by Mareike Hein (acting), Kathrin von Kieseritzky (music), and Teresa Reiber (director), the mythological figure of Atalanta serves as a canvas for exploring questions of autonomy and freedom, emancipation, and societal constraints on female artistic creativity.
Tickets (various categories):
Festival pass: 90 €, reduced 60 €.
Single ticket: 15 €, reduced 12 €; Friday day pass: 25 €, reduced 20 €
Saturday and Sunday day passes: 40 € each, reduced 30 €
plus advance booking fees online via Eventim and at the box office.
Organizer:
Fidan Aghayeva-Edler in cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth.
Funding:
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
© Jeremy Knowles