by Scott Duncan, The Baltimore Sun
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Read notes for Fanfare, Interlude, and Finale (1980) for orchestra
The fledgling Maryland Women's Symphony held its second concert Saturday night before a nearly full house at Towson State University's Fine Arts Center.
After a letter from Gov. Harry Hughes was read and best wishes relayed from other politicos, music director and conductor Deborah Freedman got down to the primary business at hand: playing music written by women composers.
Two composers attended the concert (a third had planned to make it but was ill) and there was something fresh and unpretentious in the air when Gwyneth Walker bounded up to the stage in her short-cropped hair and black high top tennis shoes to explain the genesis of her Fanfare, Interlude, and Finale.
Here was new music written by composers we could see and hear. This newly formed orchestra had plenty of rocky moments, but Freedman held things together with a clear stick technique, and the overall adventurousness of the programming seemed to override any technical failings.
The Fanfare echoed its composer: a clean, stripped-down musical texture and at the same time friendly and pleasing to the ear. ....
From The Baltimore Sun, February 3, 1986