The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates women conductors and composers in classical music in March. Two upcoming concerts will feature female conductors that also include impressive repertoires.

Unlike Lydia Tár, the fictional, abusive, narcissistic maestro who bullies her students and exploits her employees, the two conductors Rei Hotoda and Kalena Bovell are very different.

Rei Hotoda. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Japanese-American conductor Rei Hotoda is the music director of the Fresno Philharmonic. Hotoda has been hailed as an inexhaustible dynamo with a deep commitment to reimagining the 21st century concert experience. Her thought-provoking programming is highlighted in her Louisiana Philharmonic debut on March 16, 2023, which will include works by Zhou Long, Grażyna Bacewicz and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Zhou Long is a Chinese American composer who won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. In July 2017 the National Youth Orchestra of China, conducted by Ludovic Morlot performed to a sold-out Carnegie Hall audience.

The Polish female composer and violinist, Grażyna Bacewicz, has achieved national and international recognition. Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra was composed in 1948 and won the Polish State Prize in 1950.

The Russian composer Rimsky Korsakov is a master at orchestration. Composed in 1888, Scheherazade is based on One Thousand and One Nights.  and is an exciting piece of music which will showcase the orchestra’s expertise.

Kalena Bovell. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Panamanian American conductor Kalena Bovell is in high demand as a guest conductor. She is currently the assistant conductor to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony. Bovell has led numerous orchestras including at the BBC Proms and with the Louisville Orchestra.

Bovell’s program, to be performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, will open with Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Helios Overture, composed in 1902 and is Nielsen’s most widely performed work.

“The Four Sea Interludes” are excerpted from the opera Peter Grimes by British composer Benjamin Britten. Peter Grimes is centered on the sea and the townspeople of an isolated little fishing village. There are six interludes in the opera, to facilitate the changing of scenes, and four of them were extracted as an orchestra suite.

The great Finnish composer Sibelius completed his second symphony in 1902. Sibelius said, “My second symphony is a confession of the soul.” It is without a doubt my favorite Sibelius symphony.

Rei Hotoda conducts Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on March 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. A pre-concert lecture will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. the concert starts at 7:30 p.m.

Kalena Bovell conducts on March 30, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. A pre-concert lecture will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. the concert starts at 7:30 p.m.

Orpheum Theater is located at 129 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans.