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Women’s role in music has evolved across century
BY SUSAN OVERCASH
The Battalion
A t the 41 st annual Grammy awards,
a wealth of women stepped for
ward to receive golden statues.
Women like Madonna, Celine Dion, Pat
ti LaBelle and Shirley Horn all went
home with shiny monuments for their
talents and abilities.
Through the years, women such as
LaBelle and Dion have changed the face
of music. This year’s Grammy Awards is
simply the most recent indication of the
effect women have had on the public’s
perspective of women musicians.
This week. Aggies will have the op
portunity to experience a variety of mu
sic composed by women, as well as learn
more about their lives. Today, the con
clusion of a film festival depicting the
lives of women in films is playing in 417
Evans Annex.
Also, a concert of women composers
is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
in the MSG Forsyth Galleries, featuring
Penelope Kosztolnyik’s newly composed
music for the Aggie Player’s production
of “Twelfth Night.”
Dr. Laurine Elkins-Marlow, a lecturer
in the Department of Music and coordi
nator of the event, said in the past,
women have been denied access to pub
lic performances showcasing their talent.
“There are performers who have been
so excellent all along, but not given the
education or allowed to perform in pub
lic,” Elkins-Marlow said. “This century,
things have come together to allow
women access to music education.”
Elkins-Marlow said female musicians,
such as British-born Dame Ethyl Smyth,
helped change the early 20th-century at
titude that women should not perform
publicly.
“[Smyth] went to Germany on her
own, to study music,” Elkins-Marlow
said. “She wrote excellent operas, which
at the time was a male domain. Many of
them were performed in Germany. Even
tually, one of her operas was the first
women’s opera to be performed at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York.”
Local artist Ruthie Foster said women
such as Aretha Franklin, Etta James and
Ella Fitzgerald have all influenced her
music because of their courageous style.
“People like Billie Holiday, who sing
from their toes up — you can hear their
whole life story in the tone of their voice,
and they loved what they did, Foster
said. “They didn’t die rich, but they loved
what they did.”
“People like Billie
Holiday... you can
hear their whole life
story in the tone of
their voice”
— Ruthie Foster
Elkins-Marlow said women in the ’30s
such as Frederique Petrides, a conductor
and journalist, also helped publicize
women’s performances at a time when
women did not perform in the public eye.
Ethel Elginska, a concert pianist, broke
ground by wearing a tuxedo dress to per
form in instead of a concert dress.
Elkins Marlow said modern music is
firmly grounded in the talents of women
musicians of all styles.
“Today, there are not only sym
phonies, but also regional orchestras full
of women,” she said.
The advent of record labels and pro
ducing companies owned by women has
also brought many female performers
into the public eye.
“There are companies like Olivia
Records and Lady Slipper who have cat
alogs of women’s music, all types, from
all around the world,” Elkins-Marlow
said. “This has started as a grass-roots,
word-of-mouth type movement that got
institutionalized. ”
Foster, who is part owner of a local
production company. Full Circle Produc
tions, said she started her own company
after working for major label Atlantic
Records.
“I started Full Circle because I was
owned by a major label, not recording or
writing what I wanted to,” Foster said. “I
wanted control over my music. I like to
handle it myself, the business side. It’s
fun, and I have a good time.”
Foster said women musicians such as
Sheryl Crow and Ani DiFranco, who ex
ercise control over their music, bring
their own signature to the music indus
try.
“For example, Ani DiFranco owns her
own independent label,” Foster said.
“Many women have done that, gotten
backstage and run their own business,
put the right people in their circles. ”
Today, music festivals such as Lilith
Fair combine a showcase of women’s tal
ent with charity, raising money for
women’s shelters and victims of domes
tic violence. Artists such as Sarah
McLachlan and Natalie Merchant have
performed at the festival, and helped
raise over $800,000 last year alone
through ticket sales and $150,000
through corporate sponsors.
Carrie Garden, a member of Century
Singers and a senior information systems
major, said she has been influenced by
women performers such as McLachlan
because of her distinctive voice.
“She doesn’t cover her voice up,”
Garden said. “She just uses simple ac
companiments like acoustic guitar.
Women in the industry make music
reach out to more people. ”
HAZING IS LEARNED:
A learned activity, hazing is often taught at an
arly age. Hazing is not just a Greek or Corps problem
it it is a problem for most student groups and
ssociations. Many times, students arrive at college
ined, v? ready taught that hazing is acceptable. According to
1sp y 395 statistics, 85 percent of high school boys and
aarly 70 percent of high school girls have experienced
ay / >me sort of hazing. Often that hazing is approved or
KEND, H
andoned by an adult--a coach, a teacher, a parent.
Communities must be cognizant of what hazing is and what
the consequences are for participating in hazing activities.
Fazing is not part of joining an organization but instead degrades
and insults members in the name of that organization.
-adopted from Mr. Hank Nuwer
For incoming students, often away from home for the first
It me, the need to fit in with a group, to be liked and accepted,
liricreases their dependence on peers. At Texas A&M University,
Ishouldn’t we be providing our new students with a collegiate
Experience, not repeating the high school one? As a community,
ets teach our new students that hazing is not an Aggie value.
iTo report hazing, contact one of the following offices:
The Department of Student Life
{Student Conflict Resolution Services:
| Can847-7272 to report any incidents of hazing.
The Office of the Commandant:
Cal!458-1341 to report hazing involving
members of the Corps of Cadets.
The Department of Student Activities:
| Can $45-1133 to report hazing involving members
of a recognized student organization.
University Police Department:
Call845-2345 to report any incidents of
hazing.
This advertisement is brought to you by Student Conflict Resolution Services-the Department of
Student Life, within the Division of Student Affairs.
MSC HOSPITALITY PRESENTS...
SLAM FEST '99 #
5 on 3 Basketball Tournament
Where
Read Building
April 24,
Cost
$20/ team
nfr
Questions call
Profits Benefit
Community
Service
MSC HOSPITALITY 845-1515
1999
T-SHIRT
Registration
MSC Hallway
April 14-21
10:00- 3:00
REC Center
April 14-21
6:00-9:00
(k
A historical and military perspective
presented by
Dr. Joseph Dawson
Director of Military Studies Institute
7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, 1999
Room 301 Rudder Tower
For more information, visit http ://pf. tamu.edu. To inform us of your needs, call 845-8770.