International Women's Day: Why aren't there more women in classical music?

I will be honest and say that I didn't know that today was International Women's Day until I got on my laptop and saw the Google Doodle for today. But anyway, since it is today, I'd like to take this occasion to address a relevant topic that I've been thinking about for a while: Why aren't there more women in music?

At first it's not quite so obvious: you look around any music department and see plenty of female students. You can see plenty of women playing in an orchestra and hear their voices on the radio. But let's look at a typical evening at a symphony orchestra concert: Who is the conductor? Who is the concertmaster? Who are the guest soloists? Who are the composers on the program? In most cases, these roles are filled by men.

These questions have always been tucked in the back of my mind, but they only really came to the forefront when I started taking conducting courses. It started to trouble me that in my search for videos of professional conductors, while I have watched many very talented men conduct, I found very few female conductors. There are hardly any major orchestras who are led by women. It wasn't until 2007 that a woman, Marin Alsop, became the first female conductor of a major United States orchestra. She also became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the BBC Proms, but that wasn't until 2013.

This is not new information; in the classical music world, women tend to be very underrepresented. And not just as conductors. Most flute students have noticed that while there are plenty of female flute students out there in the world, it seems that the majority of the well-known flute soloists who we listen to and revere are men. This goes for any instrument. Same with composers. Yes, there have been a handful of wonderful women composers who have made significant contributions to the classical music world (who we should take an extra moment to acknowledge!), but that's just it - a handful. What about now, in the 21st century? A 2014-2015 survey of orchestras in the U.S showed that of the works written by living composers that were performed in that year, only a mere 14 percent of these pieces were written by women.

The question is, why are these numbers still so low?

I don't think there is any one simple answer. There could be any number of factors. There are historical barriers to women's achievement that, sadly, have not completely disappeared. It could be the view that a conductor is traditionally a masculine role, and we as a society are afraid to challenge that idea. It could be that because there are so few models of women leaders in music, fewer women envision themselves as a soloist, the conductor of an orchestra, or the composer of a large work. There are also the remaining social stigmas placed on women who appear too confident or too powerful. There are invisible but strong barriers that prevent women from achieving musical leadership, even subconsciously. Ideology is powerful and tough to shake.

So, how can we change that? It is not going to be easy. While I know it may be a sensitive topic for some, I think it is an important conversation for all musicians and teachers to have. Women's contributions to music should be celebrated alongside those of men, and we should hope to see many more of them in the future by supporting them in the present. As a future music educator, I think it is crucial that all students are able to see themselves in any career that they choose to pursue.  I believe by bringing this topic, and other similar issues, into discussion, we can begin to hear the voices of many musicians that may otherwise remain silent. ♫

Practicing when you don't have time to practice...or do you?

When I first started my student teaching semester (which I will say was absolutely fantastic, but that's a story for another time), I was worried that I would not have as much time to practice flute as I have in past semesters. I have heard so many stories of music education students who stop playing when they start teaching. Yes, teaching is an enormous time commitment, but playing the flute is the reason I want to be a music teacher in the first place. Was that just going to disappear?

Well, as it turns out, they were right about one thing. I DIDN'T have much to time play. I used to be able to find at least an hour, maybe two, in my crazy music student schedule to practice, and that was great. But when you teach, you teach the entire day. After school, chances are you need to do lesson plans, or have errands to run, or you're just too physically tired to spend an hour or more practicing.

But, what I found out as the semester went on is that even though I didn't have as much time, it was still entirely possible to practice. And the best part? I actually felt like I improved more this semester than I have when I did have two hours to spare.

Why?
I think it's because when you have less time, you figure out how to use it wisely. Some days I had maybe 20 or 30 minutes to play. That's okay, because you can actually accomplish a lot in that short amount of time if you use it effectively.

Say you have 30 minutes. Where is your time best spent? The answer is different from everyone, but this is what helps me:

5 minutes of a tone warm up. Whatever that means for your instrument: long tones, harmonics, octaves, slow scales, breathing exercises, whatever warm ups give you the best possible sound.

10 minutes of scales. It doesn't matter which ones. Major, minor, chromatic, etc. Pick a few each day and cycle through them so that you play each one at least once a week. Change the articulations and tempos. Use different scale patterns.

10 minutes of arpeggios. Major, minor, 7th chords, anything. Mix up the articulations and patterns here, too.

5 minutes playing a piece. Any piece. As long as it is musical and your best playing. And have fun with it, that's why we play music in the first place. :) I found that if I was stressed, just taking out a favorite piece and playing through it was a good way to relax.

(Oh, and try to play something every day. Playing 10 minutes almost every day is more effective than one hour one day a week.)

An even better way to practice while teaching is to play for the students! I planned a lot of lessons at the elementary where I played flute to teach dynamics or style. And when I taught at the secondary level, I would play for or with the students whenever possible to model how to practice. It's so important for them to see a model of how to be a good student and a good musician. I also got much better at playing from memory and transposing this way.

Even if we don't think we have time to practice, we can still find a way to keep playing. The most important thing is to never stop playing music. ♫