I Have Been Her Kind

Voices of Womanhood

I Have Been Her Kind is an exploration of the outcast female voice across centuries — women who could not — and would not — conform to society’s expectations. Shamed, shunned and punished, they were isolated, driven to madness, and misunderstood.

Named after Anne Sexton’s iconic poem Her Kind, this programme brings together Sexton’s own recorded voice with music by Handel, Purcell and Strozzi, alongside works by Kaija Saariaho and Karmit Fadael, woven together through electro-acoustic interludes and transitions by Tatiana Rosa.

The powerful yet misunderstood women of Baroque opera — Alcina, Armide and Medea — find echoes in twentieth- and twenty-first-century explorations of madness, psychological disintegration and womanhood. Through music, poetry and soundscape, Her Kind traces a dramatic journey across centuries, revealing voices that refused to be silenced.

Soprano Elisabeth Hetherington, acclaimed for her artistry in both Baroque and contemporary repertoire, joins Ensemble Postscript in a programme that moves seamlessly between Baroque and contemporary sound worlds.

Elisabeth Hetherington — soprano Ensemble Postscript: Rachael Beesley — violin Cynthia Freivogel — violin Iteke Wijbenga — viola Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde — cello and co-director Margaret Urquhart — double bass Artem Belogurov — harpsichord and co-director

Photo by Rob Vandam