Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Once More Into the Breach

Ed Note: William Osborne sent me the following note with the suggestion that I publish it on the frontpage of S21. I am doing so because I think the whole subject of women in music is an important and provocative one. I do have some reservations, however. I don't want Sequenza21 to become a political forum, sexual or otherwise. I am reluctant to provide a platform for "single-issue" enthusiasts; we have too many of them in real life and look what it has brought us. I am intuitively suspicious of male "feminists." I don't like singling out a particular group without hearing their side of the story. And, as Lawrence Dillon notes in his post today, 50 years after Rosa Parks we still have a plenty of other injustices we need to attend to.

With all that said (and perhaps some truly outrageous stuff still unsaid), here's Mr. Osborne's comment:

The New York new music group, Ensemble Sospeso, is presenting 21 composers this season. Only one is a woman, the pop singer Bj�rk Gu�mundsd�ttir. That's 20 to 1, or 4.76% for women.

What would it take to get the directors of Sopeso to understand this kind of programming is grotesque? Many of the men they perform are very obscure, while they have never programmed many very well-known women composers.

Are the directors of Sospeso sexist, or the victims of circumstance, or a little of both? Would it be worthwhile to write and ask them why they setup this 20 to 1 ratio? Is it appropriate to express anger, and what is the best way to do that?

Or what if a group of brave women distributed protest leaflets at a couple of their concerts? (Something short, simple and respectful distributed with calm, friendly dignity. It could simply note the poor ratio and list the many recognized women who have never been programmed.) Would it have an effect on next season's program? What would Sospeso think with the public sitting there holding those leaflets along with their all-male program?

The stats for women in all of Sospeso's seasons taken together appear to be even worse, but I didn't bother counting the exact numbers.

The ES website is at: http://www.sospeso.com/contents/musicians.html

The names for this season's composers are listed below my signature.

William Osborne
100260.243@compuserve.com
http://www.osborne-conant.org

Composers featured this season by Ensemslbe Sospeso
(* denotes world premieres performed this season)
john ashcroft
john barry
alban berg
pierre boulez
johannes brahms
joshua cody *
marc-andr� dalbavie *
brian ferneyhough *
bj�rk gu�mundsd�ttir
bruno mantovani *
thurston moore *
kirk noreen *
george plimpton
wolfgang rihm
arnold schoenberg
erik satie
elliott sharp *
dj spooky *
rand steiger *
morton subotnick *
john zorn

posted by Jerry Bowles 10/25/2005