It should be a truth universally acknowledged that, historically, women have not been given the same opportunities as men.
Even so, when putting together a checklist for the purpose of today’s programming on The Classical Network, which will be devoted entirely to women in music, I was astonished when the number of women composers that sprang readily to mind overflowed the space I had allotted. Okay, maybe I have a broader knowledge of repertoire than your average man- or person-on-the-street, but there is an awful lot of really fine and/or historically significant repertoire from which to draw.
On the whole, the field has been a lot kinder to female instrumentalists and especially singers. Women being accepted as conductors, however, remains an uphill climb, at least among the major orchestras. But I don’t intend to make this about gender politics. (Lord knows, there are plenty of mediocre male conductors.) Instead, we’ve set aside this day to celebrate the contributions of women to the art and enjoyment of music.
It’s only one of our special themes this week, as we continue to stockpile your contributions against the end of our fiscal year, which will arrive with the chimes of midnight on June 1.
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A few of the voices we will hear from today: those of (clockwise from left) conductor JoAnn Falletta, guitarist Sharon Isbin, and pianist Barbara Nissman. Then join us at 8 p.m. EDT for a special concert of music by composer Amy Beach (bottom right).
