This Year's
Festival Program
The 2021 Sunflower Music Festival will honor women in music. This expanded project pays homage to females in music and the arts through showcasing both past and contemporary female composers, current female performers and soloists, important female figures in music and women’s rights, and art of the Suffrage Movement. Our project has won multiple endorsements and grants from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Browse our programming below to see all Sunflower will offer celebrating women in music:
- Performance of FANFARE FOR THE UNCOMMON WOMAN by Joan Tower (written in 1987 and revised in 1997)
- The one-woman Music/Theatre production, WOMAN ON A LEDGE, with internationally acclaimed harpist, Rita Costanzi
- A Jazz Night performance featuring vocalist Deborah Brown
- An exhibition at the Mulvane Art Museum of works by women during the Suffrage era
- A panel discussion on Women’s Rights with several notable female leaders, composer Libby Larsen, conductor JoAnn Falletta and Washburn University President Jerry Farley
- A premiere of Libby Larsen’s chamber orchestra composition, THE SUPREME FOUR, using the words of the four women Supreme Court Justices and narrated by Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly
Friday, June 18
Chamber Orchestra
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
special guest conductor - JoAnn Falletta
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Joan Tower
(1938 – )
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto
III. Rondo (Vivace)
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Cynthia Raim, Piano
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Saturday, June 19
Chamber Ensembles
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
Suite no. 1 (Fantaisie-tableaux) for Two Pianos, Op. 5
I. Barcarolle
II. O Night, O Love
III. Tears
IV. Russian Easter
Sergei Rachmaninoff
(1873-1943)
Cynthia Raim, Piano
David Allen Wehr, Piano
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 8
I. Allegro con grazia
II. Intermezzo. Allegro con spirito e capriccioso
III. Andante espressivo
IV. Finale. Allegro vivace
Valborg Aulin
(1860-1928)
Zhan Shu, Violin I
Tobias Chisnall, Violin II
Basil Vendryes, Viola
Jonathan Tortolano, Cello
Pastorale for Woodwind Quintet Op. 151
Amy Beach
(1867-1944)
Sarah Frisof, Flute
Margaret Marco, Oboe
Mark Kleine, Clarinet
Greg Miller, French Horn
Justin Cummings, Bassoon
String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, op. 27
I. Un poco andante – Allegro molto ed agitato
II. Romanze: Andantino
III. Intermezzo: Allegro molto marcato – Più vivo e scherzando
IV. Finale: Lento – Presto al saltarello
Edvard Grieg
1843-1907
Zhan Shu, Violin I
Meredith Riley, Violin II
Basil Vendryes, Viola
Claudio Jaffe, Cello
Following Concert: Musician ‘Talk-Back’ Session
Sunday, June 20
World Premiere Theater Piece
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | Neese Gray Theater
Following Concert: Musician ‘Talk-Back’ Session
Monday, June 21
Mary Elizabeth 'Liz' Stratton Jazz Night
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
Sponsored by: Liz Stratton
Hosted by: Topeka Jazz Workshop
Liz Stratton Jazz Night, with Joe Cartwright on piano; Topeka’s own Ben Leifer on bass; Rod Fleeman on guitar; and Michael Warren on drums. And featuring special guest star, jazz chanteuse Deborah Brown.
Tuesday, June 22
Chamber Ensembles
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
7:00pm – Musically Speaking with Alex Klein (Principal Oboist)
Discussions, interviews, and exposés to enrich your concert experience
Offered in partnership with the Blanche Bryden Institute & Foundation
Nonet in Eb Major, Op. 38
I. Adagio – Allegro
II. Andante con variazione
III. Scherzo vivace
IV. Adagio, Allegro
Louise Farrenc
(1804-1875)
Jennifer Gunn, Flute
Alex Klein, Oboe
Jonathan Gunn, Clarinet
Mark Romatz, Bassoon
James Thatcher, French Horn
Eric Tanner, Violin
Roger Myers, Viola
Claudio Jaffe, Cello
Nicolas Tsolainos, Double Bass
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Scherzo – Allegro non troppo – Presto giocoso
III. Poco adagio
IV. Poco allegro
Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)
Charles Stegeman, Violin I
Rachel Stegeman, Violin II
Jonathan Moerschel, Viola I
Roger Myers, Viola II
John Walz, Cello I
Barbara George, Cello II
Following Concert: Musician ‘Talk-Back’ Session
Wednesday, June 23
Chamber Orchestra
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
Special Guest Conductor - JoAnn Falletta
7:00pm – Musically Speaking with Alex Klein (Principal Oboist)
Discussions, interviews, and exposés to enrich your concert experience
Offered in partnership with the Blanche Bryden Institute & Foundation
Overture in C Major
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
(1805-1847)
Elegy for Cello and Orchestra
Ina Boyle
(1889-1967)
John Walz, Cello
The Passion of Angels
Marjan Mozetich
(1948 – )
Rita Costanzi, Harp
Erin Wood, Harp
I. Adagio – Allegro
II. Adagio cantabile
III. Scherzo. Vivace
IV. Finale. Allegro
Louise Farrenc
(1804-1875)
Thursday, June 24
CONcertmaster and Friends
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
Music on a Scottish Folksong
Jean Coultard
(1908-2000)
Rita Costanzi, Harp
Charles Stegeman, Violin
Sonata for Violin and Piano
I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato
IV. Allegretto poco mosso
César Franck
(1822-1890)
David Allen Wehr, Piano
Charles Stegeman, Violin
Suite for 2 Violins and Piano, Op. 71
I. Allegro energico
II. Allegro moderato
III. Lento assai
IV. Molto vivace
Moritz Moszkowski
(1854-1925)
David Allen Wehr, Piano
Charles Stegeman, Violin
Rachel Stegeman, Violin
Friday, June 25
Chamber Ensembles
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
7:00pm – Musically Speaking with Alex Klein (Principal Oboist)
Discussions, interviews, and exposés to enrich your concert experience
Offered in partnership with the Blanche Bryden Institute & Foundation
Quartet for Strings (in One Movement), Op. 89
Amy Beach
(1867-1924)
Jeanyi Kim, Violin I
Sascha Mandl, Violin II
Roger Myers, Viola
Claudio Jaffe, Cello
Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn & Bassoon
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro-scherzando
IV. Adagio
V. Allegro vivace
Claude Arrieu (Louise-Marie Simon)
(1903-1990)
Jennifer Gunn, Flute
Alex Klein, Oboe
Jonathan Gunn, Clarinet
Mark Romatz, Bassoon
Greg Miller, Horn
Entr’acte for String Quartet
Caroline Shaw
(1982 – )
Eric Tanner, Violin I
Meredith Riley, Violin II
Jonathan Moerschel, Viola
Claudio Jaffe, Cello
Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44
I. Allegro brillante
II. In modo d’una Marcia: Un poco largamente
III. Scherzo: Molto vivace
IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Robert Schumann
(1810-1856)
David Allen Wehr, Piano
Charles Stegeman, Violin I
Rachel Stegeman, Violin II
Basil Vendryes, Viola
John Walz, Cello
Following Concert: Musician ‘Talk-Back’ Session
Saturday, June 26
PAnel Discussion on women's Rights
6:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
Melissa Brunner (WIBW-Topeka), Panel Moderator
The Honorable Jean Dubofsky, the first woman Colorado Supreme Court Justice and native Topekan
The Honorable Evelyn Wilson, Kansas Supreme Court Justice
JoAnn Falletta, Festival Guest Conductor
Libby Larsen, Festival Guest Composer
Jerry Farley, President of Washburn University
Saturday, June 26
Chamber Orchestra
7:30 p.m. | Livestream or In-Person | White Concert Hall
SPECIAL GUEST CONDUCTOR - JOANN FALLETTA
The Supreme Four
Libby Larsen
(1950 – )
World Premiere, commissioned by Sunflower Music Festival and Washburn University
Narrated by Laura Kelly, Governor of Kansas
Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56
I. Allegro
II. Largo (attacca)
III. Rondo alla polacca
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Rachel Stegeman, Violin
John Walz, Cello
Cynthia Raim, Piano
II. Adagio non troppo (B major)
III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) (G major)
IV. Allegro con spirito (D major)
Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)
