The good folks at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy have run the numbers regarding repertoire by women and nonbinary composers and conductors for several major orchestras’ 2023-24 season, and the results are pretty abysmal. Report author Sarah Baer writes, “After years of some notable upheavals — from the cancellation of events due to the pandemic in 2020, to the calling out of conductors and performers for inappropriate behavior (specifically towards women), and the dawning realization among many that the history of Western art music is deeply rooted in systems of white supremacy and patriarchy — it now feels as though many ensembles have settled back into comfortable, and unremarkable habits. Though there was opportunity and forward momentum for making significant, positive changes, it seems as though most of the institutions that we track find it is more comfortable to stay with systems that are recognized as inherently unjust and inequitable, rather than take the risk of making a change.”
It’s also interesting to see which women and nonbinary composers are getting multiple performances. While there are is a dead woman I have issues with (please let’s not forget that Alma Mahler was an antisemite, and if you try arguing that she wasn’t because she married Jewish men, I will block you forever), I am very happy to see upcoming performances of works by numerous women and nonbinary composers, some of who I am honored to know: Eleanor Alberga, Clarice Assad, Lera Auerbach, Grażyna Bacewicz, Andrea Basevi, Katherine Blach, Margaret Bonds, Lili Boulanger, Layale Chaker, Dorothy Chang, Unsuk Chin, Valerie Coleman, Andreia Pinto Correia, Anna Clyne, Chanda Dancy, Du Yun, Hanna Eisendle, Reena Esmail, Louise Farrenc, inti figgis-vizueta, Elena Firsova, Salina Fisher, Gabriela Lena Frank, Nancy Galbraith, Sarah Gibson, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jennifer Higdon, Betsy Jolas, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Hannah Kendall, Anna Korsun, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Veronika Krausas, Elena Langer, Tania León, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Meredith, Jessie Montgomery, Polina Nazaykinskaya, Angélica Negrón, Olga Neuwirth, Elizabeth Ogonek, Gabriela Ortiz, Dora Pejačević, Julia Perry, Victoria Vita Poleva, Florence Price, Kaija Saariaho, Clara Schumann, Raminta Serksnyte, Nina Shekhar, Arlene Sierra, Gabriella Smith, Ethel Smyth, Dobrinka Tabakova, Outi Tarkiainen, Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir, Mathilde Wantenaar, Shelley Washington, Lotta Wennäkoski, Mary Lou Williams, Julia Wolfe, and Xi Wang.
Julia Perry is getting several performances; I don’t know what pieces they’re doing, but she’s listed in the report for the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony. I’m very curious as to whether they’d doing one of her pieces that’s been performed before (and under what name) or something that’s been recently engraved, like the Violin Concerto, or re-engraved.