On Sunday, October 24, Dr. Marian Wilson Kimber gave a recital in the Stark Opera Studio titled In a Woman’s Voice: Musical Readings by Women Composers. I was able to talk with Dr. Wilson Kimber a bit about her recital; here’s what she had to say.

The duo Red Vespa, consisting of musicology professor Marian Wilson Kimber and pianist Natalie Landowski of Western Illinois University will return to the concert stage this week to present a recital of musical readings by American women composers. Red Vespa will also premiere a new work created for them by Portland composer and University of Iowa alumna Lisa Neher, Upon a Broken World. 

The Society for American Music recently announced that Dr. Wilson Kimber was the recipient of its 2020 Sight and Sound Subvention! “In a Woman’s Voice: Musical Readings by American Women Composers will be a video recording of musical readings for spoken word and piano by women composers, performed by Marian Wilson Kimber, reciter, and Natalie Landowski, piano.

Just in time for summer reading, Prof. Marian Wilson Kimber has published two articles: "Miss Austen Plays Pleyel: An Additional Source for the Jane Austen Family Music Collection?" and "Reciting Parsifal: Opera as Spoken Word Performance in America."

Marian Wilson Kimber’s article, “Musical Iowana: Iowa Women’s Clubs’ Promotion of Iowa Composers,” recently appeared in The Annals of Iowa.  As part of the duo, Red Vespa, Wilson Kimber continues to perform women’s spoken-word compositions. In November Wilson Kimber was honored with a distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she received her undergraduate education.