5 - On the Podium: Women Conductors

Summary

Chapter 5 turns to the situation of women conductors. It considers the early women conductors of the twentieth century, many of whom, such as Ethel Leginska, founded and led their own women’s orchestras. It explores how – with the important exception of Veronika Dudarowa’s career in the USSR – the majority of women conductors lost opportunities following the general demise of the women’s orchestras during the Second World War. It also examines the re-emergence of women at the heads or orchestras in the later twentieth century, with a particular focus upon the career of Marin Alsop. It concludes by discussing the important work that Alsop and others, notably (in the UK) Alice Farnham, are doing through mentoring and training the younger generation of women conductors through such initiatives as Alsop’s Taki Concordia Fellowship and Farnham’s Women Conductors programme at the Royal Philharmonic Society.