March 8th is International Women’s Day. The United Nations theme this year is "Invest in women: Accelerate progress." In honour of this, we are highlighting women-identifying composers from around the world whose work can be found in our catalogue, as well as literature related to people identifying as women in music.
This first area we’re highlighting is contemporary women-identifying musicians and composers and discourse around representation. For example, see A seat at the table: women on the frontline of music, She’s at the controls: sound engineering, production and gender ventriloquism in the 21st century, and This woman’s work: essays on music.
There are also historic recountings of women-identifying voices in music, which have often been on the margins. We are bringing these voices front and centre. You can find this in Sounds and sweet airs: the forgotten women of classical music, and Analytical essays on music by women composers: secular and sacred music to 1900.
We are also showcasing pieces written by women-identifying composers, both individual works and compilations. Among these are Breaking ground: a celebration of women composers, and Black women composers: a century of piano music.
If you have been paying close attention, you may have noticed that some of the materials and composers we’re highlighting this month also appeared in some of our previous displays. That is because we cannot ignore these composers’ intersecting identities of race, sexuality, or disability. This is International Women’s Day; it is important to recognize all women, from all walks of life, and their contributions to our discipline.
Thank you for taking the time to view our exhibit this month. We have included some sources below if you’d like to find more women-identifying composers!
To find out more about International Women’s Day you can visit the United Nations website.
We also have lots of online only resources that we cannot capture in our physical exhibit. Here are some more of our online resources available through the library:
Outside of the library, there are some other sources that may be useful for finding women-identifying composers. We have listed a few here:
- The BIG LIST of Women Composers, maintained by the charitable foundation Donne, Women in Music
- Women in Music Canada (WIMC)
- Resources shared and maintained by A Modern Reveal.