wom3n
GORGEOUS BEASTS / WOM3N
Collaborative talks between three thirty-something women — Ted Hughes award-winning-poet Hollie McNish, composer Kate Whitley and mezzo Rowan Hellier — resulted in Gorgeous Beasts, "a lyrical and urgent mini-drama" and "hymn to friendship, particularly that between women united since childhood. It's unshy to say the least, about periods, menopause, prolapse. No good flinching. Bring it on!"
— Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian
“Hellier’s performance captivated, and she carried off Whitley’s demanding work – and the rest of the programme – with wit, aplomb and a consistently velvety tone.”
— The Guardian
An Oxford Lieder commission, mini-drama Gorgeous Beasts was performed in the context of recital wom3n, a programme which celebrates contemporary female composers and the striking originality and creativity that unites them. Wom3n was notably performed by pianist Sholto Kynoch and Rowan at Wigmore Hall on International Women’s Day 2022, and Gorgeous Beasts subsequently for an Association of Women in the Arts event at No. 11 Downing Street.
wom3n trailer from live broadcast at Wigmore Hall.
“ ...mezzo Rowan Hellier reminded us of Judith Weir’s brilliance as a song composer in her cycle The Voice of Desire, with Kynoch as the agile pianist. The highlight, in addition to the glittering Tintarella di luna by Olga Neuwirth, was the world premiere of Gorgeous Beasts …”
— The Guardian
Female friendship in song is a subject rarely depicted with honesty, accuracy, or humour! Hellier’s commission concept, set within a curated programme of works by living female composers, was born of the desire to portray via this medium, not only the strength and depth of these relationships, but also the abundance of imagination, love and fun within them.
“The fact that this is a collaboration between three women creating song about female friendships feels like a storm of sorts. There are so many songs about romantic love and so little about friendship, which for many people, myself included, is often the most long-lasting and loving of all relationships we have.”
— Hollie McNish