Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance has announced that 68% of the compositions in its autumn season are by women composers.
In total it will offer 27 works by women across its orchestral, large ensemble and jazz concerts, as well as in its opera programme. This follows its ‘Venus Blazing’ pledge that women should make up at least half of its programme for 2018-19.
Commented programme leader Dr Sophie Fuller: “When we announced Venus Blazing in March this year, the reception was predictable. There was a lot of positivity and encouragement – a lot of people wondering why this sort of initiative hadn’t been done before. But there are still those who continue to insist that there are no great works created by women and that women’s music isn’t performed because it simply isn’t good enough.
“Our diverse programme for autumn, which spans countries, decades and genres, really proves otherwise. This is powerful, memorable, music performed by our brilliant students. It is music that is here to be heard and celebrated and, we hope, will help change people’s idea of what a popular concert programme should look like in the future.”
Highlights are performances of Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No 3, Grace Williams Symphony No 2, Rebecca Dale’s Mater Requiem and Thea Musgrave’s A Christmas Carol. Other programmed composers are Kaija Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, Maria Schneider, Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams, Eleanor Daley, Meredith Monk and Judith Weir.
The full programme can be found online via the Trinity Laban website.