From the Times Argus article "Burlington Chamber Orchestra celebrates women":

The Burlington Chamber Orchestra, for its 11th season, is presenting its “Celebration of Women in Music,” not just composers but also performers including a soprano, the Bella Voce Women’s Chorus and women of the UVM Dance Department before the season is out.

“For the first concert, I wanted to feature women composers,” explains Yutaka Kono, beginning his third season as music director.

“My goal was try to expand the time period,” Kono said recently by phone. “There are a lot of great women composers who became famous in recent years, but there are a lot of great composers in past eras as well. Those are the composers I want to feature in this concert.”

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the UVM Recital Hall, the all-professional BCO, conducted by Kono with soprano Sarah Cullins as soloist, performs music of Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth and Fanny Mendelssohn, as well as Henry Purcell.

Yutaka Kono is associate professor of music at the University of Vermont. In addition to directing UVM's Symphony Orchestra and teaching courses in music technology, conducting, and tuba, he is also the Artistic Director of the Burlington Chamber Orchestra and the conductor of Vermont Youth Philharmonia of Vermont Youth Orchestra Association.

Sarah Cullins is an affiliate artist in voice at the University of Vermont. She recently returned to the United States after an exciting 10-year career in Bogotà, Colombia, as one of the country’s most sought-after soloists and teachers.