Performances Celebrate International Women's Day

International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 each year, is being honored by a number of concerts that highlight the work of women in music.

The day originated with women's rights and suffrage movements in the early part of the twentieth century, with the earliest-known "Women's Day" being held in New York in 1909.

The United Nations Chamber Music Society, which is a division of the UN's Staff Recreation Council, will hold a celebratory concert that will also be live-streamed for free. While the works to be performed have not been made public, the program will feature "women who have helped to shape classical music history, and whose voices have been marginalized and silenced."

A range of events is also taking place throughout the United Kingdom. In London, the Royal College of Music will mark the occasion with two concerts, one featuring vocal music by living composers and the other featuring chamber music performed by the New Perspectives ensemble. The two programs are made up of works by composers such as Gubaidalina, Saariaho, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

Additionally, there is a concert taking place at Guildford Cathedral, featuring works by Cecilia McDowall, Imogen Holst, and Amy Beach. These works will be performed by the cathedral's Girls' Choir and members of the Conservatoire Concerts Chamber Orchestra.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) has been marking the celebration by flooding the airwaves with music by female composers. ABC Classic's Festival of Female Composers has been running from March 5-8, with the programming particularly focusing on living Australian composers as well as prominent women from throughout history.

In New York City, the second annual International Women's Day Benefit Concert will feature Broadway stars Sara Bareilles (composer of Broadway's Waitress), Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (Tina Turner from Tina), and Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland, Waitress) at Town Hall.