The Cornell Department of Music and Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards (CCHK) present a symposium commemorating the 150th anniversary of visionary 19th century composer, pianist, and pedagogue Louise Farrenc.
Taking place November 14-15, the symposium aims to affirm Farrenc’s place in history while linking her fight for recognition to ongoing debates about gender, labor, and representation in music today.
The program features performances of Farrenc’s chamber music on historical instruments from CCHK, presented by students and faculty from Cornell and the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. It also includes a reimagining of the salon culture she fostered and a collaboration with the Johnson Museum of Art, which situates her works within the visual culture of 19th century Paris.
Scholarly presentations by Roger Moseley, Laurent Ferri, and PhD students from Cornell and the University of Rochester will further examine her contributions to pedagogy, performance and gender equality. The symposium welcomes renowned guest artists, including Cynthia Roberts, one of today’s leading baroque violinists, who will both perform and coach student ensembles.
Interdisciplinary in scope and interinstitutional in practice, the symposium unites music performance, scholarship, gender studies, and visual culture while fostering collaboration between Cornell, the Eastman School of Music, and Syracuse University.
All symposium events are free and open to the public:
A recital Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m. at the Johnson Museum of Art provides a musical and visual journey into Louise Farrenc’s 19th-century Paris, combining performances of her solo piano works with period prints, paintings, and early photographs that illuminate her cultural world. The program will be guided by curators from the Johnson Museum (Jakub Koguciuk and Andy Weislogel) together with students and faculty from Cornell’s Department of Music (Emma Zhuang, Andrew Zhou, Vera H.P. Hsu, Ariel Mo, and Patricia García Gil).
A salon Nov. 14, 5 p.m. at the A.D. White House reimagines Farrenc’s salon culture, placing her rarely performed Sextet, Op. 40 at the center of a conversation on women writing for winds in 19th century France. Paired with Reicha’s Quintet, Op. 100 No. 3 and new works by Cornell composers (Chenghao Michalis Li and more), the evening evokes the salons Farrenc herself led — spaces outside institutional walls where she brought together earlier composers, her contemporaries, and her own music, performed on a Pleyel 1865 by Patricia Garcia Gil and the historical wind ensemble Quodlibet (Kelsey Burnham, Pablo O’Connell, Elise Bonhivert, Rachel Nierenberg, and Aaron Goler).
Lecture sessions Nov. 15, 9 a.m. –12 p.m. at the A.D. White House: Scholars including Roger Moseley, Laurent Ferri, and PhD students from Cornell (Benjamin Skoronski, Moira de Kok, and Maria Bulla Clavijo) and the University of Rochester (Kelsy Morrison and Lauren Ganger) will explore themes ranging from archival methodologies and gendered perspectives on music history to anthologies as cultural artifacts, women as entrepreneurs, and the institutional and pedagogical frameworks of Farrenc’s career. At the center of the discussion stands her equal pay petition, a powerful lens on gender, labor and visibility in 19th century music. The symposium will also feature a panel inviting reflection and discussion on invisible labor and the representation of women within musical institutions.
Farrenc Marathon Concert Nov. 15 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. in Barnes Hall: An afternoon devoted to Farrenc’s chamber music, performed by students and faculty from Cornell (Federico Ercoli, Juliana Pepinsky, Patricia García Gil, and more) and Eastman DMA students (Hyunmin Gina Lee and Huiping Cai) alongside distinguished guest artists—Cynthia Roberts (violin) and Joëlla Becker (cello). The program, featuring a Pleyel (1843) and an Érard (1865), celebrates Farrenc’s legacy and the collaborative spirit of the symposium.
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