Women in Musical Leadership’s broader mission is to help change the longstanding gender imbalance in music direction and conducting in opera and classical music in Canada. Learn more about supporting the program as an organization or an individual.
Women in Musical Leadership builds pathways to success for exceptional women and non-binary music leaders for generations.
Help transform the face of music in Canada!
WHY WOMEN IN MUSICAL LEADERSHIP EXISTS:
DISRUPTING THE STATUS QUO
Canadian women occupy less than 3% of music director positions in Canadian orchestras.
Conductors and music directors occupy a rarefied position in the classical music world. These individuals provide musical leadership within an organization, oversee its artistic vision, act as ambassadors within the community, and help create a place’s musical culture. There is power and artistic prestige associated with these roles. For this reason, it’s relevant to note that currently, Canadian women conductors occupy less than 3% of music director positions in major Canadian orchestras with budgets over 5 million dollars*.
In these orchestras, there are 37 titled roles for conductors. Of those 37 positions, only three are occupied by women conductors (8.1%). Of those three conductors, only one is Canadian (2.7%).
Only 14.8% of titled music director positions in Canadian orchestras are women
Only 15% of titled music director positions in Canadian opera companies are women
Representation is not everything, but it matters.
In Canadian orchestras with budgets above 1 million dollars**, there are currently 61 titled positions for conductors and music directors. Of those 61, only 9 are occupied by women conductors (14.8%). Of those 9, only 4 are Canadian (7%). In the opera sector, within the 7 professional opera companies in Canada which have titled music director and conductor roles ✢, only 2 out of 13 positions are occupied by women (15%).
“This fellowship has given me the opportunity to work alongside and learn from so many companies across Canada. The experiences here have shown me new ways to explore my craft and completely transformed the trajectory of my career.”
Juliane Gallant, WML Year 1 Conductor
(Juliane Gallant leading rehearsals for Tapestry Opera’s 2021 world premiere of Gould’s Wall. Photo by Dahlia Katz.)
Why Tapestry?
Named by the Globe and Mail in 2019 as “Canada’s most reliable risk-takers”, Tapestry Opera positions itself as one of the industry’s most versatile and forward-thinking opera companies. Our values aim to foster innovative practices and bring positive and long-lasting impact to the sector by developing the generation of classical musical leaders in Canada.
“I remember asking a friend twenty- five years ago if she thought that my university would consider taking a woman into the conducting program. Thankfully, times have changed since then, but seeing a woman on the podium is still rare enough to be considered a novelty.”
Canadian conductor Rosemary Thomson (Artistic Director, Opera Kelowna)
Photo by Glenna Turnbull
*In Canadian orchestras with budgets over 5 million dollars. Roles include Music Director, Assistant Conductor, Associate/Resident Conductor, and roles such as MD Emeritus, Artist Partner (OM), Principal Guest Conductor, Artist-In-Residence and Community Ambassador, Principal Pops Conductor, Principal Education Conductor & Community Ambassador. Correct as of Jan 2022.
**As deemed by Orchestras Canada. Correct as of Jan 2022.
✢Including Music Director, Resident Conductor, Associate Conductor, Assistant Music Director, and Music Director Emeritus. Correct as of Jan 2022.
The Numbers (January 2021)
- 1: Number of woman-identifying music directors currently in the top 10 Canadian opera companies.1
- 3: Number of woman-identifying resident assistant conductors currently in the top 12 Canadian symphony orchestras and the top 12 Canadian opera companies.2
- 4: Number of active woman-identifying professional conductors working in Canadian opera in the 2018/2019 season.3
- 1: Number of woman-identifying music directors currently in the top 12 Canadian Symphony orchestras.4
- 1: Number of woman-identifying music directors or assistant conductors in the top 12 Canadian Symphony orchestras born and trained in Canada.5
- 2: Number of active woman-identifying professional conductors working in Canadian opera in the 2018/2019 season hired by Tapestry Opera.