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 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

Dance Beat Arts Journal