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Will the real “first woman to conduct a European orchestra” please stand up?
Over the past six months, I’ve seen four different women hailed by clickbait headlines as “the first woman to conduct a European orchestra”… but in taking a look at those articles, I noticed there was a 64-year range between the dates of those women’s conducting premieres. The biographical info about each conductor was factually correct…
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The Biggest Tour of 1900s America
I’ve seen several articles over the past several weeks discussing how Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s recent tours have stimulated the U.S. economy. And although those articles focused on the economic power of women, they also got me thinking: if Clara and Robert Schumann were like the 19th century Beyoncé and Jay-Z… who was the Romantic…
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What’s the Deal With Victorian Music Halls?
Over the course of researching historical women flutists, I’ve come across several mentions of women who performed in Victorian music halls. Just like in modern times, even though industry narratives center “traditional” concerts, in reality many performers also play other gigs – including pit orchestras for theatres and entertainment for weddings, parties, and/or local bars. …
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Women Composers Bingo – Romantic Era
Happy Women’s History Month!! Guess what that means? It’s also time for my annual Women Composers Bingo! The National Women’s History Alliance’s theme for 2023 is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories” – and I can’t think of a better way to do that than with music from the Romantic era, when character pieces, programmatic…
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The Secret History of Amateurism in Classical Music
Why does it feel like there’s something lesser about being an amateur, and where did the idea that musical clubs can’t be “serious” ensembles even come from? Read on for a brief rundown of the history of amateurism in classical music. Early last month, I had a troubling discussion with someone who seemed to be…
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Historical Women Flutists – From Astley to Taillart
For a couple of months now, I’ve wanted to create a series of social media posts highlighting historical women flutists in Western classical music. What started as a few notes on my phone quickly grew into a mess of memos and bookmarked articles, but when I sat down to organize the info I’d collected, I…
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Ladies’ Concert Dress: Not All Black & White
Women’s Orchestral Uniforms from the 1880s – 1940s While I was going through the files on my phone to delete the photos I’d used in last month’s Instagram posts about early 20th century women’s orchestras, I noticed something odd – in all but one of the pictures, the women performing were wearing white dresses! Our…
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The Women’s Orchestra Movement in 20th Century America
Last month while I was researching women’s music salons, I came across a mention of ladies’ orchestra clubs in the United States. After some initial googling, I found out there was a whole movement of women’s orchestras who pioneered the way for female performers in professional ensembles. Many of these women were also active lobbyists…
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Classical Salon Music – Where the Party’s At
A brief intro to women’s music salons in early 19th century Paris If you’ve taken a look at Virtuosa Flute Solos, you may have noticed that there’s a big hole when it comes to flute music by women composers from the Classical era. Even when I widened my search to include violin solos, I still…
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The Real MVP of Pastoral Flute Music
I’ll be honest – I’ve been having trouble feeling motivated to practice lately. We’re going into year three of the pandemic, and the arts industry has been one of the worst hit in the economy. The constant roller coaster of increasing and decreasing cases makes concert planning even more complex, and while I’m thankful for…
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