The underrepresentation of female performers and composers is a well-documented trend within the music industry – but what can be done about it?
Research published Vick Bain (former CEO of the Ivors Academy – formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) in 2019 shows that the problem persists across the industry, with only 14% of the 12,040 writers of music in the UK being female. Additional studies back up this picture of an industry with limited opportunities for career progression for female musicians and writers. There have been signs of an improving situation in the last few years, but there is still much work to do.
This hard truth has inspired the Glasgow School of Art Choir to launch Composeher. This is a project to commission seven female composers to contribute new work which will be premiered by the choir in May 2022. Composeher is designed to provide a platform to act as a focal point for a wider conversation about female participation in modern day composition and the wider music industry.
Only 14% of the
12,040 writers of music
in the UK are female
“Composeher marks a significant milestone in the development of the Glasgow School of Art Choir and further demonstrates our commitment to commissioning and performing new music.
No single project can hope to rectify the imbalance in commissions awarded to female composers overnight; this will take concerted effort not just from commissioners, but from programmers and audience members in the future, in order to affect a profound change in the way we view female composers and their male counterparts.
However, Composeher is an attempt, by our ensemble, to make a positive contribution to the change that is now visible in the industry and we hope that, by commissioning female composers on a project of this scale, we can increase the project’s impact and legacy.”
Jamie Sansbury, Musical Director
About
The Glasgow School of Art Choir is an amateur ensemble of over 115 singers of all ages and from all walks of life, who volunteer their time to come together and share their love of choral music. While a large portion of the choir comprises current staff, students or alumni of The Glasgow School of Art, the choir also includes a significant number of members who have no direct association with the School. All have come together to support the choir’s objective of championing choral music and performing to new audiences in Scotland.