Progress toward gender parity in classical music has been frustratingly slow. Recent milestones include the New York Philharmonic allowing female musicians to wear pants and the appointment of the second-ever female music director at one of the 25 largest U.S. orchestras. The Berlin Philharmonic also hired its first female concertmaster last year. The Academy Second Modernism is taking concrete steps in this direction.
The Academy Second Modernism
In response to these persistent gender imbalances, the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna launched the “Academy Second Modernism”. This was done to showcase works by 50 female and nonbinary composers over five years. This initiative aims to address the stark underrepresentation of women in classical music. According to a report by Donne, Women in Music, less than 8 percent of the 16,000 works staged by 111 orchestras worldwide were composed by women, predominantly white women.
Who are the players?
Notable orchestras like the American Composers Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and the National Philharmonic have made strides. However, top orchestras like the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra still feature less than 10 percent of works by female composers. British-Lebanese composer Bushra El-Turk, among others, highlights the challenge. Many talented women are present but lack opportunities. El-Turk is one of the ten composers participating in the Academy Second Modernism this year. Their works, including El-Turk’s opera “Woman at Point Zero,” were performed by Klangforum Wien. The Arnold Schoenberg Center will host some of the initiative’s activities.
Milo Rau, director of the Wiener Festwochen, emphasized the potential of public funding to drive systemic change. The festival, with a budget of €13.6 million, is committed to leveraging these resources to create lasting equity. The initiative’s composers will attend a summit to draft a declaration promoting structural changes in classical music.
A lot of work to be done
Jana Beckmann, leading the initiative, stresses the need for concrete measures and accountability. Mary Ellen Kitchens, from the Archive of Women and Music in Germany, supports focusing on contemporary music to enhance diversity. A significant barrier to equity is the dominance of works by long-dead composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky, who still comprise 80 percent of orchestral programs. Program directors often cling to the “canon,” but Beckmann urges them to entice audiences with new experiences.
Vienna’s classical music scene has been notably inequitable. The Vienna Philharmonic did not allow women to audition until 1997, and only 17 percent of its members are female. None of the 69 works performed by the Vienna Philharmonic last season were by women or people of color, and its New Year’s Eve concert has never had a female conductor.
The Academy Second Modernism features diverse composers from Turkey, Iran, Belarus, the Philippines, and more, all united by a mission to amplify marginalized voices. As Du Yun, a member and Pulitzer Prize winner, noted, embracing new composers does not negate the greats like Beethoven but rather enriches the classical music landscape.
