Today is the International Day of the Woman. While we celebrate and advocate, let us pause and ponder the role of women in Music through the ages.
Unlike most professions, Music has been generally a bit more tolerant and accepting of women, up to a point. There have been many notable performers and composers, but relatively few conductors and directors. I didn't have a woman as a conductor until well into my college years when there was a graduate student on her assistantship that conducted us. She later went on to become a prominent music educator in Arkansas and nationwide. Which parallels the increasing numbers of female band and orchestra directors in today's schools. It used to be that women as music educators were relegated to the elementary general music area. Now, there are women as the music directors of some of the most prominent symphony orchestras in the world.
But that's not why I'm writing this diary. I am highlighting composers, so away we go...
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