Sigma Alpha Iota

Summer 2019 12 PAN PIPES ADVOCACY NEVER A SEASON OF SILENCE Denton, Texas' Tri-Chapter Advocacy Musicale By Erin Shults Smith, Denton Alumnae Chapter It's 2019 and women are still trying to shatter glass ceilings in almost all industries. Women's contributions to music have been ignored for longer than we can identify. Female composers, performers, conductors, and educators are vastly underrepresented. A recent study by Drama Musica found that during the 2018-2019 season, 15 orchestras worldwide will perform more than 1,400 concerts and present more than 3,500 pieces – but only 82 of those pieces were composed by women. Moreover, women make up less than 15% of living professional conductors; and while women are gaining ground in obtaining coveted professional performer spots with U.S. orchestras, section leadership positions are overwhelmingly given to men, and women still feel compelled to remove their heels before blind auditions. Even in the public education system, women hold fewer ensemble conducting positions, with an extremely low representation among high school and college music programs. Women are also vastly underrepresented in the American Bandmasters Association; while the organization is presided over by a woman, its Board of Directors is comprised only of men, only one woman is included on its Honorary Members listing, and 2019's new members are men. ese issues transcend classical music. NPR recently ran an article stating that only 16% of country music Dr. Kirsten Broberg leads a brief discussion about her piece just prior to the performance. Summer 2019 12 PAN PIPES

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