Music for Everyone (MfE) has celebrated its 40th birthday this year, marking it with a celebratory music experience at the Albert Hall in Nottingham....
Jenn Fuller, musician and researcher, discusses repertoire diversity for International Women’s Day on 8 March.
How inclusive is your repertoire?
If you have a moment to spare, I have a challenge for you. You have 30 seconds to write down the names of as many composers as you can come up with. Try it now and see how you get on.
This is an interesting activity to run with your group or committee. Ask everyone to do the above exercise, then have a look at the results. I'd wager there will be several Mozarts, Beethovens, Elgars etc. Perhaps a Vaughan Williams or two and the occasional Rachmaninov with a variety of spellings. But I wonder how many of the composers would be women? How many not white? How many not European? How many still alive?
As International Women’s Day approaches, I've been reflecting on my own experience of performing in a number of groups over the last 30-ish years. I studied music to Masters level and throughout my studies only one woman composer, Hildegard Von Bingen, featured. I had never, until very recently with North Devon Sinfonia, played music by a female composer in decades of violin and piano lessons, youth orchestra, university ensembles and leisure time orchestral playing. I just assumed there weren't any. My experience of vocal and choral repertoire was more diverse, but only slightly.
This feeling of missing out on unknown and overlooked composers bubbled away for years until I found myself looking to fill the gap Covid-19 left in my music-making life when rehearsals ground to a halt. I began researching diverse repertoire in earnest and started to appreciate the vast range of music I had been missing.
In 2024 - following conversations about my research with fellow members of my choir, Vocal Accord - our sister quartet, Swimbridge Consort, created a programme consisting of music by women composers. It is important to note that the theme of the concert itself was not 'women composers'; in fact it was 'Feel the Light'. It just so happened that all of the music was written by women. Whilst we did this partly to discover new, more diverse, repertoire ourselves, it was important not to make this a one-off attempt to pay lip service to diversity. In addition, I should add that Vocal Accord has always performed a broad, inclusive range of music.
Nevertheless, a programme of 100% female composers was unusual and we were delighted by the response of the audience and members. With a bit of effort, our tenor, Pete, who selects repertoire for this group, produced a coherent, well-balanced programme of stunning pieces, all by women, but not lacking other diverse characteristics. It was extremely well-received by the audience who were surprised that the whole concert was by women composers. Personal highlights included Adoro Te by Melanie Bonis, To A Skylark by Kristina Arakelyan and The Oak by Becky McGlade.
The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is #AccelerateAction. As leisure-time music groups, particularly in the classical orchestral tradition, now is the perfect time to reflect on the diversity of our programming and consider how more inclusive repertoire might benefit members and appeal to new audiences. Leisure-time music groups are embedded in local communities, incubators for music students, and leisure opportunities for local people and audience. We have a unique opportunity to drive this ambition for diversity forward.
On that note (excuse the music pun), I should mention that my research project has developed into a PhD project which I'll start in October with the University of Sheffield, exploring the challenges and opportunities of diversifying repertoire for leisure-time orchestras. If anyone would like to find out more, share repertoire ideas or take part in this research, please contact me on jm8093@googlemail.com.
Contact Jenn about her research via email at jm8093@googlemail.com. Find out more about Jenn's music groups: North Devon Sinfonia and Vocal Accord.
Find out more about the latest research on diverse repertoire, plus useful links for programming ideas, in our article. Plus, read about six iconic female composers of colour for more inspiration.
Explore our access and inclusion resources.
