History has a poor record of ignoring the contributions of women to professional fields. This may come from the prejudices of the historian looking back in time. It could also be a result of devaluing women’s contributions at the time they are being made, due to a societal lens that is already distorted by a view that men are the accomplished, educated, and highly trained professionals, and women exist only as homemakers to support the male gender in their endeavors. The accomplishments and talent of strong, intelligent women are thus overlooked.
Time and research has brought forth the identities of women from the past who exhibited extraordinary talent and made significant contributions to their field, including the women at NASA whose mathematical genius helped to launch Friendship 7, carrying John Glenn around the earth; Grace Humiston, who was the first female US District Attorney; Hedy Lamarr who is well known for her acting but whose skill as a scientist and inventor was less acknowledged; or even the recently discovered female hunters buried in the Andes Mountains 9000 years ago. These are some of the incredible women we know of due to efforts of researchers and historians to share their stories and make their existence known. Who knows how many others have been lost to time, or overlooked, either because they never had the opportunity to exhibit their accomplishments in a public forum or because society didn’t give them credit for their contributions in a way that could have been preserved through documentation. According to historian Bettany Hughes, women are only included in .5% of recorded history.
The musical field is not above these issues. While music has often straddled both the private and public worlds, it also often confined musicians, particular women, to the home. This is not to say that there weren’t women who were able to break those barriers and have a public career. However, in the 1800’s when it became almost mandatory for young women to receive musical training, there were very likely many incredibly gifted young musicians who could have had careers were it not for society’s expectations. Instead, musical training was a way for a young woman to contribute to genteel home entertainment in a supervised environment. It might be hoped that her skills at the piano would attract a suitable partner for marriage, along with her other domestic training and education.
Despite these limitations imposed by society on women’s ability to enter the music profession there were women who were able to break those barriers, to varying degrees, and help set the stage for others to follow; these include Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Rebecca Clarke, Amy Beach, Nannette Streicher, and Cecile Chaminade. While in some ways the families of these women supported their talents, in others they held them back, concerned more with what was considered appropriate behavior for women at that time than nurturing their musical development and allowing a potential music career to thrive.
Society in the 21st century is not the same as it was in the 19th, or 20th centuries, but it is still learning how to acknowledge the enriched value that comes with contributions from all people, regardless of gender (or race, or sexuality). The Vienna Philharmonic was the last major orchestra to admit women into its ranks, finally allowing female musicians to become permanent members of the orchestra in 1997; in 2019 only 15 of the 145 permanent musicians were women. The Berlin Philharmonic only began to admit women in 1982. When orchestras were male-only, one of the few instruments it was deemed suitable for women to play in public was the harp.
The gradual increase of women in orchestras has been a long and slow process, one which has partly been aided by the incorporation of blind auditions, where musicians are hidden from the view of the auditioning panel. The Boston Symphony Orchestra was the first American orchestra to incorporate blind auditions in 1952. However, in 2018 the BSO was the subject of a lawsuit regarding pay discrimination, filed by their principal flutist, Elizabeth Rowe. Her compensation was only about 75 percent that of a male colleague in a comparable position in the orchestra and she was pursuing equal pay. Her lawsuit was settled in 2019 and a joint statement was issued saying that the orchestra would “continue to collaborate with musicians, staff and other leaders in the field to accelerate the process of achieving gender parity.”
While women have made vast inroads into the music profession there are still areas in the field where women are few and far between, particularly as conductors of major orchestras. Fewer than 10% of the orchestras in the United States are led by women. Marin Alsop was the first woman to lead a major orchestra in the United States when she was hired by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2007. She is currently the Chief Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. In a 2019 New York Times article discussing the Vienna Philharmonic’s gender inequality, Marin Alsop acknowledged that “classical music is a very small microcosm of our broader society, and it’s a very conservative microcosm.” “Once a woman is elected president of the United States, [Marin Alsop added] ‘maybe that breaks some of those barriers’.”
With the recent election of Kamala Harris to the position of Vice President of the United States, we are one step closer to that goal, and the women who are currently in the music profession are continuing to pave the way and open up access for more to join. Meanwhile it is our responsibility to learn more about those from the past who managed to purse what they loved despite a society that effectively imposed roadblocks and speed limits on women’s ability to rise in the music profession.