What contributions from women artists in classical music, both historic and living, can I discover?

Explore my Projects

My approach to artistic programming, as both a performer and a concert curator, centers around a single question: what contributions by historic and living women creators in classical music can I discover? In 2015, I began asking myself this question in earnest, and it has magically transformed my artistic life. As a performer, it has allowed me to construct a more accurate, and sometimes radical, historical-performance narrative about classical music, one in which women of the past mingle with women of the present to create profound, complex, and thought-provoking musical works, one in which I can place myself and feel a sense of belonging.

In Search of Luise Adolpha Le Beau

January 30th, 2022

Portraits: The Self Illuminated

January 28th, 2022

Head, Heart

January 27th, 2022

The little ghost

January 26th, 2022

To the queen of my heart

January 20th, 2022

German Romantics: Clara

January 17th, 2022

Queen of Hearts

January 13th, 2022

World of Miyabi: Japanese Women in Song

January 5th, 2022

A Women’s Suffrage Splendiferous Extravaganza!

December 14th, 2021

I take the long way there

December 14th, 2021

Media

Projects

Research

“In the middle as Polyxo was the more silvery-toned Noelle McMurtry, who turned aside from the trio’s singing to ask questions. She went with increasing insistence to a pile of books, quoting Jung, Ovid, Pausanias, and other sources, her thoughtful analysis offering some comic relief from the unrelenting fierceness of the siren song.”

Charles T. Downey

Washington Classical Review

“It must have been a challenge to find performers who could sing and dance as well. All the voices were fine but we were most impressed with sopranos Noelle McMurtry … [who] captured the Baroque style with pure tones that floated beautifully in the upper register.”

Meche Kroop

Voce di Meche

“Whether they sing singly or together, as they do in their portrayal of the Muses, McMurty, Crossot, and Bosworth display that they are fully capable of handling Soper’s sophisticated and intricate score.”

Barbara Mackay

DC Metro Theatre Arts

“Soprano Noelle McMurtry and bass Andy Berry were the most notable soloists, and the whole tribe created a vibrant, exuberant chorus.”

Heidi Waleson

The Wall Street Journal

“[Fairy Queen] is all terrific fun once you are swept into the spirit, and that doesn’t take long . . . Especially fine among the singers on Friday were Noelle McMurtry and Tamra Paselk; sopranos.”

James R. Oestreich

The New York Times

“Each of the very gifted singers . . . including Noelle McMurtry . . . has at least one aria to deliver . . . These are beautiful, lilting pieces of music, with large amounts of fioritura. The singers’ task of keeping their tone pure and tremolo at bay, in order to contrast “simple” singing with these virtuosic embellishments, is a demanding one (among the women, McMurtry is especially skilled at this).”

Deborah Jowitt