One of my favorite things that I keep experiencing as part of the new MusicSpoke project is meeting - even if it is only electronically - musicians that I didn't know before. I have written about this before, but we live in an astounding time when there are many people writing good music.
When I was searching for composers to include on the site, I wandered over to the Walton site because I have pieces with that company. I started browsing around and found a piece I really liked by Andrea Ramsey. I think we have a great responsibility to promote music written by women. More than at any time in history, we have music written by really fine, female composers. That's a voice that has for too long been absent from the historical conversation.
We always include them in "the survey", but it's as a sort of exception. That is, we say, "Here is the story, and, oh yeah, also, Hildegaard, and Fanny Mendelssohn, and Amy Beach." I'm certainly as guilty of this as anyone. The good news is that we don't have to tell the story of the 21st century in the same way. We have Andrea Ramsey, Dale Trumbore, and Christina Whitten Thomas already on our site. They aren't exceptions anymore. They are shaping our musical culture and language in the same way that our foremothers like Libby Larsen, Joan Tower, and Ellen Taaffe Zwillich helped to shape my musical thoughts.
So, go to Andrea's website. Listen to her music. Buy it. Commission her to write something for you. She is a wonderfully sensitive composer with a tender care for text and a commitment to a well crafted and expressive line. I'm in a religious mood, so I'll give you this example, but there is much more for you to explore. Keep the beautiful music coming, Andrea!