In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States

New Perspectives on Gender in Music

by Jennifer Kelly

This collection of new interviews with twenty-five accomplished female composers substantially advances our knowledge of the work, experiences, compositional approaches, and musical intentions of a diverse group of creative individuals. With personal anecdotes and sometimes surprising intimacy and humor, these wide-ranging conversations represent the diversity of women composing music in the United States from the mid-twentieth century into the twenty-first. The composers work in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, multimedia, or collaborative forms for the stage, film, and video games. Their interviews illuminate questions about the status of women composers in America, the role of women in musical performance and education, the creative process and inspiration, the experiences and qualities that contemporary composers bring to their craft, and balancing creative and personal lives. Candidly sharing their experiences, advice, and views, these vibrant, thoughtful, and creative women open new perspectives on the prospects and possibilities of making music in a changing world.

Genres: Nonfiction

475 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains interviews with 25 American composers who happen to be women. Each interview is accompanied by a brief introduction and a works list. Kelly did a terrific job in choosing her subjects - she includes a very wide range of composers: old, young, established, emerging, composers who work in more mainstream concert mediums, those who do electronic music, and some who work with theater, film, and computer games. Thus I got to read about some of my long standing favorites like Joan Tower and Pauline Oliveros, and learn about composers I had not yet heard of like Beth Anderson and Maria Schneider.
Kelly is a good interviewer and was able to elicit a lot of great insights from her subjects, so I got a lot out of this book. It would also be a great resource for anyone doing research on any of these composers. Occasionally, I found it to be a bit repetitive because of the necessity of asking all 25 composers some of the same questions about their lives, work, and creative process. However, each individual interview never failed to be interesting and illuminating.

[Mills College Library]

780.9252 K2973 2013