Women in classical music
Pianist (and composer) Clara Schumann and vocalist Jenny Lind were two rarer examples prominent in the nineteenth-century.
[7] Until recently, women were not allowed to be taught at a conservatory level, and those studying music were tracked into a less demanding curriculum that omitted topics that were considered complex.
This upbringing, support from her father, and her family's rich history of musicianship was a major stepping stone for her musical career.
Despite that her one published opera, Céphale et Procris, only had 5 or 6 performances, she continued to compose throughout her life, producing a wide variety of pieces.
Women's roles in music, whether it be performance or education, was meant for their private lives inside their homes, rather than for public 'display'.
American Clara Baur was the first woman to found a conservatory, the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, in 1867.
[15] Following the end of World War II, the number of women in classical music jobs greatly increased in the United States.
[2] In 1984 Odaline de la Martinez became the first woman to conduct at a BBC Promenade Concert[16] at the Royal Albert Hall.
[13] Across the world, there are relatively few women conductors, but numbers are increasing, as figures like Marin Alsop, Barbara Hannigan, Susanna Mälkki and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla gain public attention and popularity.
[29] Despite the early successes of Emma Roberta (sometimes 'Roberto') Steiner (1856–1929) and Caroline B. Nichols (1864–1939), who were both noted for their conducting careers, the gender imbalance has been particularly notable in music directorships of symphony orchestras.
As of November 2016, 4.1% of major orchestras in the United States were led by a woman,[17] and out of the 150 recognized top conductors in the world, only 3.3% were women.
[32] Despite the recent rise in female conductors, in the 2024-2025 season only 20.8% of concerts by the top 21 orchestras in the United States were directed by women.
[36] A similar figure (7.5%) emerged from the Donne, Women in Music group for the 2023-2024 season, which they described as "a disturbing stagnation and regression in the diversity of global orchestral repertoire.
"[37] In "The Power List: Why Women Aren't Equals In New Music Leadership and Innovation",[38] Ellen McSweeney discusses six generic contributory factors identified in 2013 by Sheryl Sandberg in Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead which may have some effect on these numbers, all of which would require further addressing to bring a more truly level playing field.
"[35] Marin Alsop said that when her conducting career began to take off she assumed that there was a larger trend of women conductors making their way in the orchestra world.
[35] She is on record as saying that there can be a tendency to celebrate notable firsts or high-profile individual successes and just assume these one-offs mean a problem is solved.
