Album They Have Waited Long Enough

On September 18, 2026, the album They Have Waited Long Enough will be released by Channel Classics / Outhere Music. This album, released by the Ragazze Quartet in collaboration with Katharine Dain and various soloists, features a selection of five songs from the song cycles.

On August 21, 2026, the first single from this album, Never Belonged, composed by Aftab Darvishi with lyrics by Gaea Schoeters, was released. The CD is now available or for pre-order. It will be delivered on September 18.

The trailer for the album They Have Waited Long Enough, shown here on the left, depicts the five women whose stories serve as the album’s central theme.

They Have Waited Long Enough I – Circe, Medea and Penelope

The first cycle tells the stories of Circe, Penelope and Medea, women from Greek mythology, two of whom (Circe and Penelope) feature in Homer’s Odyssey. In new compositions by Aftab Darvishi, Calliope Tsoupaki and Annelies van Parys, set to texts by Gaea Schoeters, the stories of each of these mythological women are told from a different perspective, transforming them from hysterical, passive or murderous women into more nuanced characters. 

On the right is a live recording of Medea for soprano, string quartet and clarinet by Annelies van Parys (composition) and Gaea Schoeters (text). Recorded at November Music 2022.

They Have Waited Long Enough II – Kassia, Suat Derviş and Şahmaran

The second cycle gives voice to heroines of the Aegean Sea: the mythical Şahmaran, half-serpent, half-human and a symbol of feminine (and non-binary) power, Kassia, born around 805 in Constantinople and the only female composer in Byzantine church music, and Suat Derviş, the 20th-century Turkish writer and left-wing activist who always remained unapologetically true to herself. Composers Meriç Artaç, Aida Shirazi and Kate Moore have put the texts of the Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran to music for soprano, string quartet and a solo instrument of one’s choice.

The video on the left shows the premiere of Şahmaran for soprano, string quartet, duduk and kaval, composed by Meriç Artaç with text by Ece Temelkuran. Recorded at the Istanbul Music Festival 2024. ​

They Have Waited Long Enough III – Mother Shipton, Hecate and Maria San Juan de Garonda

The third song cycle is dedicated to three women who were denounced or persecuted as witches: the Basque midwife Maria San Juan de Garonda, the mythological goddess of magic and witchcraft Hecate, and the legendary 16th-century English prophetess Mother Shipton. Composers Saskia Venegas, Amarante Nat and the duo Diamanda Dramm / Katharine Dain have added three new songs to the cycle, with lyrics by Natalie Haynes.

The video on the right features an interview with Tamar Brüggemann, founder of Wonderfeel, and Saskia Venegas, composer of Sortzain, discussing Maria San Juan de Garonda, accompanied by live recordings of Sortzain. Recorded at Wonderfeel 2025. ​