Marin Alsop
The LA Times had an in-depth article looking at how women are faring as conductors AKA leaders in orchestras across the country. I wrote last month about Xian Zhang’s appointment in Italy, and now people are looking to see where we are in this country.
Here are some of the highlights:
Classical music institutions throughout the world are embracing the notion of female conductors more than ever. In addition to appearing regularly as guest conductors and in assistant conductor positions with top orchestras, women are now commonly in the running for — and occasionally winning — music directorships.
When women get the job they do well.
The nation’s most established female music directors are proving successful at their jobs. Over the course of JoAnn Falletta’s 11-year directorship of the Buffalo Philharmonic, the orchestra’s budget has grown from about $7.5 million to $10 million. The orchestra has won two Grammy Awards, made 14 recordings and boasts record subscription levels. Meanwhile, in 2008, the Baltimore Symphony announced its first balanced budget in five years, which observers attribute in part to enthusiasm surrounding the appointment of music director Marin Alsop in 2007.
AND numbers matter
There seem to be several reasons for the growing self-confidence and prevalence of female conductors. Female instrumentalists are no longer a novelty in the country’s top orchestras, which has helped audiences and industry insiders to accept that women are as capable of the highest levels of musicianship as their male counterparts. The increased visibility of women in leadership positions in politics and government as well as in key orchestral management positions, like L.A. Philharmonic President and Chief Executive Deborah Borda, also has had an impact.
Shocker: women mentor each other
The Taki Concordia Fellowship, founded by (Marin) Alsop in 2003, exclusively supports the development of female conductors through mentorship and providing professional conducting opportunities with major orchestras alongside established musical directors such as Alsop.
But even with all the good news, there are still very few women in leadership at these orchestras.
Yet the podium still remains largely male territory. Women head up only 11.9% of the country’s symphonies, according to the latest data from the orchestra league. While female conductors are now more regularly ascending to music director positions at small and midsize orchestras, only two women in this country — Falletta and Alsop — run big-league institutions.
There is still lots of work to do.
Female Conductors Crack the Glass Podium (LA Times)
