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. ♫