Composition

"While classical music’s past might be dominated by men, we can ensure the future isn’t. It takes a collaborative effort to actively include, encourage, and open barriers for women and young girls." Megan is Publishing Assistant at Birdsong Music Publishing.

British composer Charlotte Bray is one of the most esteemed and in-demand composers of her generation, championed by conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Oliver Knussen, and Marin Alsop and featured by BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and London Sinfonietta.

Crossing Faultlines is a song cycle about women’s experiences in the workplace. Searching through volumes of poetry, it became clear that little has been written about this aspect of women’s lives.

The poet Nicki Jackowska generously agreed to write new poems specially for the cycle. The three songs explore themes on mentorship, discrimination, and ambition.

Described as ‘at once intimate and visionary’, British-American composer Freya Waley-Cohen’s music is characterised by a sense of the otherworldly. Her music has been commissioned by institutions and ensembles including LA Philharmonic, BBC Proms and London Philharmonic Orchestra

Music is communication, storytelling, and expression - the more different voices we hear from, the richer the art form becomes as a whole. To limit the art form so that weight is only given to music from one specific demographic would result in the death of our art form.

Changing the status quo requires funding for the arts for programmers to have the freedom to put on music from outside the established canon; for childcare and maternity leave so that women’s voices aren’t silenced once they become parents; for arts education for everyone.

Olivia Belli is a modern classical pianist and composer based in Italy. She has reached a worldwide audience with her poetic piano compositions accumulating millions of streams, and has featured on leading radio stations such as BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, and Radio France. 

Being a woman has always meant playing many roles at the same time as well as being a professional in our own field. Living by balancing multiple roles is a great challenge that women face every day but it sharpens their empathetic skills, enriching their voice. 

It is essential to support women in our multifaceted roles, allowing us to be all of this without imposing choices that would deprive us of part of our ancestral nature & identity: only in this way can our voice, our way to conceive the world reach its maximum expression in art.

Olivia Belli is the cover of Spotify’s EQUAL: Classical playlist, celebrating the great women composers who continue to transform the classical world, from Florence Price to Kaija Saariaho. Belli was also the first female composer to curate Apple Music’s Piano Chill playlist.

Eímear Noone is an LA/​Dublin based conductor & award-winning Irish composer, composing extensively for films and video games. As one of the world’s premier composers of games scores, Eímear is responsible for some of the most enduring soundscapes on World of Warcraft and others