The Donne Report: Equality

The Donne Report: The Donne Report:Equality & Diversity in Global Repertoire

Dr Kathryn

The charitable foundation Donne – Women in Music launched a new research report, Equality & Diversity in Global Repertoire, at an event held at the Royal Albert Hall in London and livestreamed on 30 September 2022. The results were determined through in-depth analysis of composers’ works scheduled for the 2021-2022 season by 111 orchestras across 31 countries. The report provides evidence that progress in gender equality is slow in the world of classical music and even slower when it comes to diversity. The findings include:

• Of the 20,400 compositions scheduled, 87.7% were written by white men, and only 7.7% of the works were written by women, of whom 5.5% were white women.

• Almost one-third of all compositions were by 10 white, historical and wellknown European men.

Set up in 2018 by multi-award-winning soprano Gabriella Di Laccio, the Donne Foundation is dedicated to achieving gender equality in the music industry. Its research publications aim to help raise awareness and bring more people into vital conversations around inclusivity, and to find ways to generate faster change. Previous reports include Equality & Diversity in Concert Halls (2020-2021) and Equality & Diversity in the Studio (2020). Donne has a wealth of resources that are freely available to all, such as the Big List of Women Composers, an ever-expanding list featuring more than 5,000 women composers, a database of over 500 orchestral works by women composers, and a podcast series. At the launch nch eventevent for for its its latest latest report report, the the panel sessions focused on how we can move beyond tokenism and aim for comprehensive and genuine inclusivity, from the artists that audiences see on stage to the repertoire programmed in concerts and in educational settings. Panellists included composers, programme managers, researchers, and organisation leaders. Composer Nicola LeFanu noted that as a young woman she faced fewer barriers entering the profession than most women of her generation did, because she had a role model in her own mother, composer Elizabeth Maconchy. She also spoke about brief periods throughout her own career when it became fleetingly fashionable to promote women composers. Composer Bushra El-Turk added that she receives waves of commissions when festivals temporarily want to focus on diversity. Emma Gait, Programming Manager at the Barbican, and Elena Dubinets, Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, provided examples of ongoing work that will ensure this is not a passing trend, such as diversity requirements in programming and in commissioning women composers to write new pieces that are more substantial than just a short overture to tick a box.

The full report can be downloaded by visiting donne-uk.org

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