Start diversifying your repertoire with Open University

Jenn Fuller, musician and researcher, talks about the Open University course on diversifying repertoire.

In August 2025, Dr Laura Hamer and colleagues at the Open University created a free short course called Women Transforming Classical Music. As a community musician and researcher with a particular interest in inclusive repertoire, I jumped at the chance to have a go! 

This six-hour course considers women's contributions to the classical music industry, how to reflect this in your repertoire choices, and how to start thinking about other ways to diversify. Practically speaking, the course is very easy to sign up to and follow; all you need is to create an Open University account and you can dip in and out of the course as you please. There are six sections, short enough to be completed each in one sitting. 

Starting with reflection of your own repertoire knowledge, you will find out just how male-dominated the classical music industry is with some eye-opening data from Donne: Women in Music. Founder, Gabriella di Laccio, provides an overview of her fascinating work on this subject. 

You will then hear from other industry experts including:

• Roísín Maher, founder (along with Clíona Maher) of the Finding a Voice festival, who gives valuable insight into curating a full festival of music by women composers.
• Tim Parker-Langston, founder and editor of Hensel Songs Online, an online catalogue of Fanny Hensel’s lieder that was part of his practice research PhD.
• Stephan Meier, Artistic Director of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group who discusses working with contemporary composers including commissioning new works and working towards a gender-balanced programme.
• Angela Slater, composer and founder of Illuminate Women’s Music, who shares her experience as a woman composer that led to her setting up Illuminated Women's Music

Finally, Deborah Keyser, Director at Tŷ Cerdd - Music Centre Wales, provides guidance on intersectionality in classical music, giving great examples on how to be as inclusive as possible in all your practices.

I found the course to be a very useful introduction to music by women composers and an excellent toolkit for groups to start exploring and opening up their repertoire choices. I would highly recommend taking the course whether you are responsible for programming concerts or just interested in finding out about all the wonderful music you might have been missing! 

Jenn Fuller is a community musician and researcher currently undertaking a PhD with the University of Sheffield, ‘The Challenges and Opportunities of Diversifying Repertoire for Leisure Time Orchestras’.

To learn more about the Open University course, visit their website