Nathalie Joachim’s mesmerizing sonic Celebration of the unheralded female singers of Haiti

Nominated for a 2020 GRAMMY Award

Fanm d’Ayiti – Nathalie Joachim & Spektral Quartet

“I hope that everybody experiences the deep sense of love and respect that I have for this ancestry, this lineage, and these women who have come before me. I hope that people will see that this is such a deep part of who I am. More than anything, I want to be able to honor these women by making this music.”

— Nathalie Joachim

Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti) is an evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet and electronics developed by composer/performer Nathalie Joachim. Commissioned by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, Fanm d’Ayiti is a celebration of some of Haiti’s most iconic yet under recognized female artists, as well as an exploration of Joachim’s Haitian heritage.

The project features original songs incorporating the recorded voices of Joachim’s grandmother and the girls choir of her family’s home farming village of Dantan; new arrangements of songs by some of the greatest known female voices in Haitian history; and recorded interviews with these artists about their lives fighting for social justice and uplifting the people of Haiti.

Developed in a two year Liquid Music Virtual Residency, Fanm d’Ayiti premiered in March 2018 with members of SPCO in St. Paul, MN, and will be presented in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season with Spektral Quartet. This project is made possible in part through funding from The Jerome Foundation, New Music USA and the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Foundation.