Whistling Hens
Date: October 4, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall
Showcasing two premieres and a narrative song cycle for soprano and clarinet, the Whistling Hens duo shares stories about women, by women. Haiku Journey (Jenni Brandon) encourages loving stewardship of our planet, while Lingerie (Victoria Bond) bemoans frustrating aspects of women’s undergarments. The 17th Letter of the Living (Mojgan Misaghi) tells the story of Táhirih, executed for unveiling herself in front of a council of men, alongside Cradle Song and The Journals of Katherine Campbell, chronicling the lives of women who changed the world through activism as artists, healers, and politicians.
Whistling Hens® was founded by soprano Jennifer Piazza-Pick (Queens University of Charlotte) and clarinetist Natalie Groom (UMBC, Towson University) to perform and commission music by women composers to create a financially and artistically equitable future for women in music. The duo’s name was plucked from a quote by a male music critic who wrote in the New York Times in 1918, “women composers are at best whistling hens.”
Whistling Hens has premiered 41 pieces and commissioned 16 compositions, 10 transcriptions, the Whistling Hens Women Composer Coloring Book, and inspired 26 dedicated works. Whistling Hens has released two albums, Big Crass Monster (2025) and Reacting to the Landscape (2022), presenting numerous world premiere recordings featuring many of their commissioned works.
This event is sponsored by UMBC’s Department of Music.
$15 general admission, $10 seniors, $5 students. Tickets will be available in fall 2026.
Linehan Concert Hall, located in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, is easy to visit, with plenty of free parking. Please visit here for directions and parking information.
Photo of Whistling Hens by Patrick Lill.