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24th – 30th July: Representation of Women on Boards Up 8%, Young Euro Classics, Most influential Female Conductors, African Music Project Database

Friday 30th July 2021

Representation of Women on Music Industry Boards Up 8% on 2020, report finds

A report by Women in CTRL has found that representation of women on boards has increased since last year, but has identified areas where diversity can still be improved.

Non-profit organisation Women in CTRL has spent the last year analysing the make-up of music industry boards across the UK.

The key findings are:

  • Across the 12 organisations, 42% of board members are women, an increase from 34% on 2020.
  • In 2020 9% of Chairs were women, the equivalent of one female chair across the 12 organisations. This figure is now 27%, with three female chairs.
  • CEOs remains unchanged at 27%, or three women.

The report also found that the representation of Black women has doubled, but from a very low base – and, there are still no Black women CEOs or Chairs.

Read more here…


Viel Jugend, viel Live und das alles in Klassik

Bei den Young Euro Classics kommen alljährlich in Berlin internationale Jugend-Orchester zusammen. In diesem Jahr soll damit – nach langer Abstinenz – Klassik wieder live erlebbar werden.

26 junge Musikerinnen und Musiker formen das Young Euro Classic Orchester Deutschland-Frankreich – eine Kooperation mit dem Bundesjugendorchester und dem Orchestre Francais des Jeunes. Sie sitzen in einem Neuköllner Hotel und proben. Sie kannten sich gegenseitig vorher nicht.

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Lots of youth, lots of life and all that in classical music

Every year, international youth orchestras come together in Berlin for the Young Euro Classics. This year – after a long absence – classical music is to be experienced live again.

26 young musicians form the Young Euro Classic Orchestra Germany-France – a cooperation with the Federal Youth Orchestra and the Orchestre Francais des Jeunes. They sit in a hotel in Neukölln and rehearse. They didn’t know each other beforehand.

Read more here…


Cheffes d’orchestre : qui sont les plus influentes ?

Si on peut citer des cheffes d’orchestre comme Augusta Holmès au XIXème siècle, Nadia Boulanger, Ethel Smyth ou encore Jane Evrard au début du XXème siècle, celles-ci font toutefois figures d’exception. Aujourd’hui, les femmes qui dirigent des orchestres sont bien plus nombreuses, mais la profession est l’une des moins paritaires du secteur de la musique. Selon l’enquête Où sont les femmes ? publiée par la SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques), il n’y aurait que 4% de cheffes d’orchestre en France.

Eun Sun Kim va devenir la directrice musicale de l’Opéra de San Francisco

Commençons par la cheffe d’orchestre sud-coréenne Eun Sun Kim, sur le point de devenir directrice musicale de l’Opéra de San Francisco. Elle prendra ses fonctions le 1er août 2021, trois ans après le départ du chef Nicola Luisotti. La nomination à un tel poste de cette cheffe née à Séoul intervient dans un contexte marqué par plusieurs affaires de racisme anti-asiatique dans la musique classique. Récemment, la vidéo d’une masterclass du violoniste Pinchas Zukerman a été retirée du site de la Juilliard School, à la suite de propos désobligeants envers des élèves d’origine asiatique et un article du New York Times, publié la semaine dernière, soulignait que l’Orchestre de San Francisco était composé à 83% de musiciens blancs.

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Female conductors: who are the most influential?

Women conductors such as Augusta Holmès in the 19th century, Nadia Boulanger, Ethel Smyth and Jane Evrard at the beginning of the 20th century are the exceptions. Today, there are many more women conducting orchestras, but the profession is one of the least equal in the music sector. According to the survey Where are the women? published by the SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques), there are only 4% of female conductors in France.

Eun Sun Kim to become music director of the San Francisco Opera

Let’s start with South Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim, who is about to become music director of the San Francisco Opera. She will take up her post on 1 August 2021, three years after the departure of conductor Nicola Luisotti. The appointment of this Seoul-born conductor to such a position comes against a background of several cases of anti-Asian racism in classical music. Recently, a video of a masterclass by violinist Pinchas Zukerman was removed from the Juilliard School website after he made derogatory remarks about Asian students, and a New York Times article last week noted that the San Francisco Orchestra is 83% white.

Read more here…


Orchestral Rep Added to African Music Project Database

The long overdue efforts by orchestras and other classical music presenters to diversify their programming often run into difficulties identifying appropriate repertoire. Many works by Black composers remain unpublished, so finding a score, much less a recording, can be a huge challenge.

In September 2019 Dr. Louise Toppin, a soprano known for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances, a trained archivist, and currently a professor of voice at the University of Michigan (U-M), launched the African Diaspora Music Project (ADMP) database. With her personal collection serving as its foundation, the ADMP now includes nearly 4,000 songs and, more recently, over 1,200 symphonic works and counting.

Read more here…


Also in the News…

Play on, maestros … The Guardian’s pick of the BBC Proms 2021

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L’écrivain et musicographe André Tubeuf est mort

The writer and musicographer André Tubeuf has died

Read here…

Forced to Find Gainful Employ, Some Musicians May Never Return

Read here…


On a Lighter Note…

An Italian artist has just built an incredible 12-metre violin boat, which will sail the canals of Venice

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