Polina Nazaykinskaya "Emily Suite" for Piano Solo

Polina Nazaykinskaya "Emily Suite" for piano solo
Elizabeth Schumann, piano
Premiered at the Music in May festival on May 27, 2023.
Video by Matt Carr for Music in May festival.

"Emily Suite" is based on the longer ballet "Emily", which premiered April 28, 2023 in New York City at the Gerald Lynch Theatre by MorDance, a female-led company. It is inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and the work of other female artists who have faced barriers and even outright rejection in traditionally male-dominated roles. In her own life, as she entered adulthood, Nazaykinskaya realized that she was no longer seen as the cute little girl who could play beautiful music. Rather in the eyes of many, she was out of line, in a world that did not have a place for her. Emily Suite features four movements, the piece begins with a depiction of the innocence of childhood, while hinting at a coming storm on the horizon. The music that follows is slower, inviting the listener to enter a state of contemplation. In the final portion of the piece, we are invited to contemplate and then take action to fight against the structures of oppression facing female artists – as the composer says “proving that we have the right to be artists” – and evokes the “bitey,” minimalistic sound of contemporary composers such as Phillip Glass. © Abigail Kaun