American orchestras have long lacked composition by women and people of color, and stick to the norms of music dominated by white, mostly male composers.
However, protests against racial justice and gender disparities in the United States seem to have prompted some changes.
Compositions by women and people of color make up about 23% of the works performed by the orchestra, up from just about 5% in 2015. report Released Tuesday by the Institute for Composer Diversity at the State University of New York, Fredonia.
This increase comes from a collaborative effort in the performing arts to promote music by women and people of color, partially prompted by the #MeToo movement and the death of George Floyd.
“The changes that have been discussed for a very long time have suddenly accelerated tremendously,” Simon Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of the Association of American Orchestras, who helped with the production of the report, said in an interview.
The coronavirus pandemic, which poses a threat to many institutions, also appears to have contributed to this change. Before the pandemic began, many ensembles took a more traditional approach to programming and planned the season many years ago. The virus seems to have led to the experiment.
“The pandemic was a kind of impact on the patterns we’ve known for a long time,” Woods said, allowing the orchestra to be “much more sensitive.”
Overall, the ensemble seems to embrace more music written by contemporary artists. This season, the work of living composers accounted for about 22% of the work played by the orchestra, compared to 12% in 2015. This report is based on data from hundreds of orchestras across the United States.
In recent years, many ensembles have taken steps to foster a career as a composer of women and people of color. For example, the New York Philharmonic launched Project 19 in 2020. This is a multi-year initiative to commission 19 female composers to commemorate the 100th anniversary of ratification of the Article 19 amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
In recent years, orchestras have become more motivated to program the work of living composers, but some obstacles remain, such as new music being played only once.
The American Orchestra Federation, which aimed to make the works of living composers a more permanent part of the orchestra landscape, announced last month that it will perform new works by six composers (all women). In a few years, we have announced an initiative to involve 30 ensembles.