Elizabeth Hilliard - Great Women (2021) Hi-Res

GreatWomen was commissioned by the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland \/ An Comhairle Ealaíon, which also gave financial support. The release of the recording in June 2021 coincides with the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival 2021. The piece is a celebration of the strong, remarkable Irish women who have helped shape the social and political landscape through their striving for equality and liberation. Among those whose words are set are pioneering patriots such as Countess Markievicz and Rosie Hackett, alongside such equally inspiring contemporary figures as Irelands former Presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, extracts from whose inaugural speeches are embedded in the textures of the live and tape parts. The tape part includes readings from Markievicz letters and excerpts from Rosie Hacketts account of events leading up to the 1916 Rising. The readings were recorded by renowned soprano, Elizabeth Hilliard, for whom this work was written and to whom it is gratefully dedicated.