To what extent are women composers represented in our music programs?
To what extent are our music programs providing opportunities for young women to think of themselves as composers?
Kerry Andrew recently problematized a gender imballance between the ratio of male to female composers present in contemporary society in a UK Guardian article entitled Why there are so few female composers. While she addresses several issues that contribute to this challenge the following passage invites music educators to take a direct role in working toward greater equality:
We need, however, to address the inequality at the nub: those writing the curriculum, the National Music Plan, and teachers at all levels should make an effort to use examples of music by women in the classroom; to promote composition as a living, breathing, utterly unisex profession.
Though focused in the context of the UK, this statement could and I propose should be applied equally in the United States.
The repertoire our students perform throughout their K-12 school music experience likely factors in their perceptions of what constitutes a composer. Similarly the particular “music history” addressed in schools may also contribute to notions of what and who a composer is.
Music educators can play an immediate and direct role in broadening how composers are perceived and understood in our programs. By increasing the repertoire composed by women, discussing the issues addressed in the aforementioned Guardian article among other resources, and providing opportunities for students to compose and see themselves as composers we might contribute to a more balanced gender representation of composers in school music programs and society at large. If you have not already done so it might be informative to look through the repertoire performed in your program or aspects of music history/culture addressed in your classes for the past several years to determine the extent of gender balance in terms of composers in your curriculum.
Unsure how to approach composing in your own program? Take a look at some of the prior posts on the topic in this blog and consider attending the NAfME 2012 Summer Composition Academy.
Thank you so much for asking what I see as the “right” question around this topic: “To what extent are our music programs providing opportunities for young women to think of themselves as composers?”
Nice post!
I thought that was a good piece too. The good news is there were (and are) a lot of composers who are women, and there’s a growing number of publications and tertiary-level elective courses looking at them. I cover a couple of resources in a recent blog post which may be of interest to educators at secondary level too. I think it’s not just a case of including women composers in the curriculum: the stories our curriculum tells needs to change too.