Tag: women flutists
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I feel like there are a couple contradictory assumptions when it comes to historical flutists – some observe that a majority of modern flutists are women, and assume that’s always been the case, while others notice that most historical flute repertoire was composed by men, and conclude that women flutists were exceptions to the rule.…
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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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Happy February!! In the spirit of the month, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some resources for flute music by Black composers and performers that I’ve come across over the past several years. I’m always in full support of anything that amplifies voices from outside the narrow canon of Western classical music that’s…
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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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The Western flute used to be considered a masculine instrument, but it’s now one of the most feminine. Why is that, and when did the gender association change? I spent my first year after graduating from college working at a family-owned music shop. During rental season, my coworkers and I would sometimes try to guess…
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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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If you’re new to my corner of the internet, you might be wondering what “Pualani” means and how it’s related to music history. The short answer is – it’s not. Back in 2021 when I set up my blog and Instagram account, I hadn’t settled on a specific niche. Choosing a handle & URL based…
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Meet three women composers who wrote flute sonatas in 18th century Prussia – Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Anna Amalia von Preußen, and Anna Bon di Venezia. I kicked off the new year by learning Princess Anna Amalia von Preußen’s ‘Sonata in F Major,’ and surprised myself with just how excited I was to start working on…