21 x 21: Beneath The Trees

This project - to commission 21 female composers from Aotearoa New Zealand to write a song, then perform, record, and publish the resulting works - was developed as a way to profile the work of female composers and poets from this country and go some way towards strengthening and diversifying the contemporary art song repertoire for performers, teachers of singing and their students. Just as I had hoped, the unique experience of here and now comes through in this diverse set of songs and I look forward with much anticipation to hearing many more performances of them in the future.

Mā te whakaatu i ēnei pūkenga wāhine, ka nui noa atu te mana o te wahine i roto i tēnei ao, te ao toi, otirā he mea tōtō mai i ngā whakaaturanga hou e hāngai ana ki ēnei wā. Te wheako ahurei o inamata nei, he mea kanorau, koinā tāku i wawata ai.

The inspiration for the title of the published score collection and the recording, 'Beneath the Trees' came from the painting on which the cover design is based, a watercolour by Raewyn Harris. This image and the title seemed to resonate with many of the song texts, and with my own sense of place here in Aotearoa.

- Jenny Wollerman, November 2023

Composers:
Leila Adu-Gilmore
Helen Bowater
Mere Boynton
Josie Burdon
Claire Cowan
Eve de Castro-Robinson
Rosa Elliott
Aiono Manu Fa'aea
Helen Fisher
Salina Fisher
Maria Grenfell
Leonie Holmes
Janet Jennings
Jenny McLeod
Celeste Oram
Gemma Peacocke
Tabea Squire
Deborah Wai Kapohe
Louise Webster
Gillian Whitehead
Miriama Young
Glenda Keam, arranger

Poets:
Tusiata Avia
Arapera Blank
Sarah Broom
Jeni Curtis
Peggy Dunstan
Lauris Edmond
Fiona Farrell
Rhian Gallagher
Miriama Gemmell
Dinah Hawken
Michele Leggott
Katherine Mansfield
Panni Palásti
Roma Potiki
Nina Mingya Powles
Jo Randerson
Elizabeth Smither