Athena Festival begins next week

Every other year, the Athena Festival reaches Murray State students and faculty, regional audiences, public school music students and many scholars and performers across the country.

This year, the event will be held Feb. 26 through March 3.

The festival, sponsored by the Murray State department of music, includes three days of lecture sessions, recitals and concerts featuring groups such as the Murray State Concert Choir, Jazz Orchestra and Faculty Chamber Music ensembles.

The event celebrates women’s classical music all week. This is the eighth year the Athena Festival will be held at Murray State.

The purpose of the event is to devote time to the study and performance of music composed by women. It seeks to promote new works by female composers, provide a venue for the performance and recording of the music and add quality works by female composers into the repertoire of Murray State students.

Each festival has a different theme. This year’s theme is “Breaking Barriers – Finding Her Own Voice.”

In addition to a theme, the festival highlights a few women in music. Featured composers this year include Gwyneth Walker, Earlene Rentz, Anna De Foe and Vera Ivanova. These women will share their experiences in the music industry with the audience members through performances, lectures and stories.

The performances and lectures will occur over the span of three days of the festival, Feb. 27 through Mar. 1.

Staff report

Scroll to Top