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Rethinking Representation: Inclusion of Women Composers in Standard Classical Repertoire
Bosse, Aubrey
Bosse, Aubrey
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2023-05-19
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Women composers are severely underrepresented in classical performance around the world. This is due partly to oppressive historical circumstances and prejudiced attitudes towards women in society and in music. Subsequently, the common misconception that women were not typically serious composers until the twentieth century leads to the idea that they simply cannot be represented equitably in modern performance. Women have always been composers, though, and for centuries have written music which was often unpublished or unknown. Today, an abundant amount of their music is accessible to musicians and must be included in standard classical repertoire through the intentional inclusion of their works into performance and study. This is the focus of the first portion of this essay.
I began brainstorming about representation and inclusion when I programmed my junior recital and realized that standard repertoire included almost no women composers. I thought it fitting, then, to develop another recital for this project with music composed exclusively by women. The recital, titled In Her Shoes, explores different experiences and emotions in a woman's life through the music of women composers. Performed on April 15, 2023, it was both a challenge and a joy to create and in the second portion of this essay I will share the research and reasoning which went into it.
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Music