(pleasant music) - Westminster presents "Brahms and Smyth," a concert highlighting the shared German musical traditions and respect between composers Johannes Brahms and Ethel Smyth.

Here to tell us more is Kimi Kawashima.

Kimi, thank you so much for being here.

- Thanks for having me.

- So, what attracted you to this performance?

- Well, it's kind of an interesting program of a composer that a lot of people know, Johannes Brahms, and one that a lot of people might not know, Ethel Smyth.

Ethel was a composer who was born in England.

She ended up being a musical prodigy and went to Germany to study, where she took lessons from Brahms, and that's where she kind of hobnobbed with all sorts of famous people, with Clara Schumann and with other classical composers.

But she really had to prove herself because she was a woman.

She ended up becoming the first female composer to have an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera.

That was in 1903.

The next female composer was 2016 that was performed at the Met, so it's kind of interesting to learn about that, but she was part of the suffrage movement in England and had her works performed throughout her life, so it's exciting to have one of her violin sonatas being played at this concert.

And then we're also gonna have pieces by Brahms, a piano quartet with a really incredible last movement that has a lot of Hungarian dance-like rhythms and some four hands music.

- Why is it important to kind of shine a spotlight on the lesser-known composers?

- Well, I think it's just, I mean, it's been fascinating to learn about her life and how, especially underrepresented composers, we need to amplify their voices.

She really has an incredible oeuvre of chamber music, opera, of symphonic music, and it's great to see her at the same level as well-known composers.

- Wow.

Well, thank you so much for sharing that information.

I'm sure our viewers are interested and hungry to learn more and to hear the sounds of this concert series, "Brahms and Smyth."

It's happening March 23rd at 7:30 p.m.

at the Vieve Gore Concert Hall.

That's at Westminster University.

Just head to westminsteru.edu/tickets for more information.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you so much for joining us for "Contact."

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