For centuries, women composers have been silenced — not by lack of brilliance, but by a system built to ignore them.

In an industry shaped and dominated by men, their music was sidelined, their careers stifled, and their names overcast by male counterparts.

With this concert, we’re here to amplify the work of women who composed despite the gatekeeping and patriarchal hurdles. These works are not “forgotten gems” — they are acts of resistance and of creative expression, and they will be heard with the volume and visibility they deserve at the RNCM in 2026. What makes this concert even more special is that our soloists, Alexandra Dariescu, Alex Mitchell, and Rachel Clegg, are all Alumni of RNCM.

At the centre of our program is Doreen Carwithen, a pioneering British composer who made her mark as a film composer in the 1940s and ’50s — a time when few women were even allowed in the room. Her Piano Concerto is bold, cinematic, and uncompromising — a declaration of musical power. She was married to composer William Alwyn, whose work we will also be referencing in this concert.

We last performed William Alwyn’s piece with Rachel Clegg, our Principal Oboe and soloist for this performance, back in 2009 at Bridgewater Hall. 

We will perform Carwithen’s work with trailblazing pianist Alexandra Dariescu, our collaborator and friend, who joined us onstage at the Enescu Festival in Romania a few years back. She is a fearless original voice in the international piano scene, making her a perfect collaborator for this work.

Another composer we will be highlighting, amongst others, is Morfydd Owen, who was considered a prodigy from a young age. At the age of four, she played the piano on her own accord, and at six, she began composing. She became one of the most versatile musicians that Wales has ever produced as a composer, singer, pianist and ethnomusicologist, until she married the Freudian psycho-analyst, Ernest Jones. He did not approve of his wife performing in public, so her diary soon dwindled. She served as her husband’s secretary and proofreader until her mysterious death at the age of 26. 

We will be performing her beautiful piece, Beatific Sea.

Our Principal Viola, Alex Mitchell, will be performing Ruth Gipps’ Jane Grey’s Fantasy for Viola and String Orchestra, which is inspired by the short and tragic life of Lady Jane Grey. She was Queen of England for just nine days before being overthrown and executed. This music follows her story, moving from peaceful and gentle moments to darker, more dramatic sections, before returning to a quiet, noble ending. The composer may have felt a connection with Jane Grey and this story, feeling inspired to compose a piece that reflects the hardships she endured as a woman.

There will be a pre-concert talk by Leah Broad, winner of the 2024 RPS Award for her acclaimed book Quartet, which explores the life and work of Doreen Carwithen.

(This concert is named after Carwithen’s first major breakthrough, an orchestral Concert Overture named ODTAA (One Damn Thing after Another), composed between 1945 and 1946.)

Programme

• William Alwyn Tragic Interlude
• Morfydd Owen Beatific Sea
• Ruth Gipps Jane Grey Fantasy for Viola and String Orchestra
• Elizabeth Maconchy Life Story
• Antoinette Kirkwood Suite for Strings
• Interval
• Doreen Carwithen Piano Concerto

Performed by

• Conductor John Andrews
• Piano Alexandra Dariescu
• Alex Mitchell Viola
• Rachael Clegg Cor Anglais

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