Settling an old Score... Ignored female composers and women of the Great Lakes get their due at Manistee Women‘s Fest

May 11, 2005

This week, as Manistee County’s “Celebrating Women” festival kicks into high gear, several historical and musical presentations will highlight regional talents. The festival began May 6 and lasts through May 15, and is open to men as well. Among an exhaustive array of seminars, demonstrations and exhibits are several presentations that recognize women’s contributions to industry and the creative arts.
The festival was born from a musical score penned by the mother of flutist and summer Manistee resident Jodi Picardat. Written in 1946 by Josephine Restelle, the score served as Restelle’s thesis for her master’s degree at the Eastman College of Music.
In an era when even women soloists were rare -- perhaps no more than five percent of all performers -- female composers stand out, says Jim Bond, conductor of the Manistee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. “To find a woman in composition, in a master’s program, at one of the most prestigious music schools in the world -- it’s really extraordinary.”
Until now, the score has only been known from a single performance and an old phonograph record. Restelle’s “Concertino for Piano and Orchestra” will be presented as a concert finale at the Ramsdell Theater on Saturday, May 14 at 8 p.m.
“It’s a modern piece that’s reminiscent of film scores of the 1940s,” says Bond. Jodi Picardat plans to attend with members of her family. “We’ll probably be bawling our eyes out,” she says. “My mother would be absolutely thrilled and excited.”

LOST COMPOSERS
Three other works will fill out the evening of music in a rare program featuring only women, says Bond, noting that the female composers are new to him also. If the other composers -- Amy Beach, Cecile Chaminade and Emma Lou Diemer -- are new to you, you’re not alone. Largely ignored or working under the title of “Mrs.” Bond says that women composers have a history of being passed over. “The problem was that they didn’t get much credit in their own era. As prolific as they may have been, they just weren’t selected for that many concerts.”
Just as women’s participation began to increase in the 1960s and ‘70s, symphonic music took experimental, atonal directions. “A lot of that music was shunned. Most of the male composers of that era weren’t that worthy, either,” says Bond.
Female composers who have survived past judgment and current tastes have their fans, Bond among them. Amy Beach is a particular favorite of his, and part of her “Symphony No. 2” will be heard; composed when she was under 30 years old. Says Bond: “She’s one of the finest composers I’ve ever run across—period.” He plans to feature the full piece someday.
Included in the concert is Cecile Chaminade’s romantic-era “Concertino for Flute and Orchestra.” Born in the late 19th century, Chaminade lived until 1944. Also, “Four Poems of Alice Meynell,” composed in early 1970s by Emma Lou Diemer, will be heard. Diemer still lives in Kansas City. Appropriately, Bond is highlighting the composers’ works with women soloists, including flutist Leah Somsel, soprano Stacey Urbin and pianist Carrie Selbee. For more information on the concert, call 723-ORCH (6724).

WOMEN OF THE LAKES
Much of Manistee has found ways of honoring women during this period.The S.S. City of Milwaukee will be giving tours that focus on women of the Great Lakes. Paul Jaleski, a long-time volunteer leader on the Milwaukee, has gathered a variety of stories about notable women of the Great Lakes.
With the exception of the lighthouse keepers, cooks and stewards, it’s still relatively rare to find women in positions of power, Jaleski says. “It’s pretty much the male ego that stands in the way. It’s been so traditionally a man-oriented trade, to work the Lakes.”
But Jaleski has collected notable examples, such as life-saver Edith Morgan and deep-sea diver Margaret Goodman. Another featured woman in Jaleski’s tour, Celia Parsons, became a licensed captain on the Lakes in the late-19th century schooner era. She passed the exam and served as a captain for 19 years.
Jaleski finds that past duties were equally distributed, more so than now.
“When it was a frontier out here, women were pretty much equal to men,” he says. “Once we industrialized, they were kicked out of that equality, and were made to stay home and take care of the house.”

To learn about the Women’s Festival events, including an awards luncheon on May 11, call the Manistee County Convention and Visitors Bureau at (231) 398-9355 or visit online at www.visitmanistee.org