There are a few explanations for this sustained record of achievement, but there is one common denominator: women. Together, the names of Julia Nicols-Corry, Deirdre Harrison, Reba Cafarelli, and Alyssa Martinez form a super pack of women who direct the operations behind the creative virtuosity of Cedille, Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion and the Spektral Quartet. On Sunday, Third Coast hopes to repeat its 2017 victory as the best chamber music/small ensemble, and Nathalie Joachim – former flautist of the four-time Grammy winning Eighth Blackbird – celebrates her first nomination with her debut album “Fanm d’Ayiti” – a collaboration with the thrice nominated Spektral.
When Brooklyn flautist Joachim moved to Chicago to join Eighth Blackbird five years ago, her solo projects were buoyed by the support of women’s networks across the arts and business communities. She says, “Women supporting women’s work is not (akin) to tokenism.” Her “Fanm d’Ayiti” (Women in Haiti) is the result. “This debut album is my very first step in claiming my identity in my music as a Haitian woman, as a black woman and as an American female composer.” Martinez agrees that “mentorship in the arts is essential, and when it can happen from woman to woman, even better. In Chicago, I see the same talented women popping up in different organizations, roles, and capacities over the years, on both the administrative and creative sides of projects. They make Chicago music great.”