Gender equality in music

My guest today is Gabriella Di Laccio, public speaker, curator, activist, award-winning soprano and recording artist. She is one of the leading voices in the fight for gender equality in music. Listed as one of the BBC’s 100 most inspirational and influential women in the world, Gabriella is also the founder and curator of the charitable foundation Donne – Women in Music – dedicated to achieving gender equality in the music industry. 

We talk about the incredibly long list of woman composers and the unbelievably few plays they get in conservative classical music organisations. Gabriella shares with us the research and the numbers from the latest report: that in 2021, almost 9 in 10 compositions played by orchestras around the world are written by white men.

But there is hope. At least in a different field. This year’s Biennale di Venezia, invited 213 artists, among them 21 men.

Listen to the episode

And here is an exercise you can do very easily in a quiet moment:

Check your playlists and count the artists that you are listening to (also the producers and composers) and find out how biased your musical taste is.

We also made a start with a Top 6 of woman composers you should know and listen to:

  • Lili Boulanger
  • Nadia Boulanger
  • Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel 
  • Clara Schuhmann
  • Leokadiya Kashperova
  • Florence Beatrice Brice
  • Rachel Portman was the first woman who got an oscar.

Show notes and how to connect with Gabriella

More about Donne, Women in Music

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