Les voix retirées - Voices Withdrawn: Art Song by Rita Strohl and Lili Boulanger

This project explores themes of isolation and seclusion through the extraordinary music of two female
composers whose compositions were obscured from the canon of Classical Western Art Song: Rita Strohl
(1865–1941) & Lili Boulanger (1893–1918). While their lives unfolded in different circles & eras of the
French music world, their voices seem to recognise one another through their poetic texts, delicacy of
musical settings, emotionalism, and ability to shape radiant soundscapes from a place of seclusion. This
project offers a cultural-historical rediscovery of two composers and an encounter that never actually took place.
Their artistic dialogue is suggested here in the intimate form of a song recital, a genre uniquely suited to
convey personal emotions, poetic imagery & subtle shades of expression.

Concerts are scheduled in multiple locations through Bremen, Germany in May 2026 and in Limerick, Ireland in November 2026.

Julie Comparini, contralto
Yonit Kosovske, piano