women conductors | database of international conductors
europäische dirigentinnen | database of european conductors
women in choral music | database of choral conductors

women conductors in america: struggle for acceptance | article by shelley jagow
pioneers of the podium | article by anita mercier
women conductors: why so few? | article by anna hodgson
call me madame maestro | article by blair tindall
conducting motherhood: the personal and professional experiences of women orchestral conductors | article by brydie-leigh bartleet
despite gains, women conductors aren't exactly crowding the podium | article by valerie scher

A WOMAN IS A RISKY BET - six orchestra conductors (1987)
Original Swedish Title: DIRIGENTERNA
Language: Swedish, English, Norwegian and Russian
Genre: drama (feature/documentary)
Duration: 80 min
Director and Scriptwriter: Christina Olofson
Featured conductors: Kerstin Nerbe, Victoria Bond, JoAnn Falletta, Veronika Dudarova, Ortrud Mann, and Camilla Kolchinsky.
Distributor: Telepicture Marketing Ltd

Story: A WOMAN IS A RISKY BET is about women who share a passion, who are obsessed with their work and who have the courage to break with existing values and accept challenge. It is about not giving up, about believing in change. The six women are all pioneers, breaking their way into the men's world. Many orchestras are highly conservative, and some even ban female conductors. What drives these women, despite all the opposition, is their great love of music.

"A feature film about orchestra conductors - the idea is ridiculous. But when the final frame faded, I was happy that such a ridiculous idea was actually carried through, since it turned out to be a stroke of genius."
AFTONBLADET

"Christina Olofson has made a fascinating film. It is fascinating because it gets so close to the process of conducting...The viewer is gripped."
SVENSKA DAGBLADET

books and chapters of books:


Elke Mascha Blankenburg: Dirigentinnen im 20. Jahrhundert. Porträts von Marin Alsop bis Simone Young.
Women Conductors in the 20th-Century. From Marin Alsop to Simone Young.

Publisher's contact information:
Europäische Verlagsanstalt. Bei den Muhren 70, D-20457 Hamburg
info@sabine-groenewoldverlage.de

Europäischer Dirigentinnen Reader

Publisher's contact details:
Archiv Frau und Musik
Fürstenbergerstrasse 221, D-60323 Frankfurt a.M.
info@archiv-frau-music.de

Christine Ammer: History of Women in American Music
Amadeus Press, 2001
The 2nd, "century" edition

Relevant chapters:
Opera Composers and Conductors
Today's Orchestras, Conductors, and Instrumentalists

Available from amazon.com

articles:


Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Women conductors on the orchestral podium: Pedagogical and professional implications." College Music Symposium, 48 (2008).
Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Conducting motherhood: The personal and professional experiences of women orchestral conductors." Outskirts: Feminisms along the edge, 15 (2006). available at http://www.chloe.uwa.edu.au/outskirts
Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Reflections on females conducting." In E. Mackinlay, D. Collins & S. Owens (Eds.), Aesthetics and experience in music performance (pp. 235-242). London: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2005.
Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Professional female orchestral conductors and the male canon." In L. Kouvaras, R. Martin & G. Hair (Eds.), Loose canons (pp. 83-92). Canberra: Southern Voices, 2003.
Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Female conductors: The incarnation of power?" Hecate: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Women’s Liberation, 29(2) (2003): 228-234.
Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh. "Re-embodying the 'gendered podium.'" Context: Journal of Music Research, 23 (2002): 39-47.
Cheng, Marietta Nien-hwa. "Women Conductors: Has the Train Left the Station?" Harmony: Forum of the Symphony Orchestra Institute, 6 (1998): 81-90.
Hinely, Mary Brown. "The Uphill Climb of Women in American Music: Conductors and Composers." Music Educator’s Journal 70.9 (May 1984): 42-49.
Jagow, Shelley M. "Women Orchestral Conductors in America: The Struggle for Acceptance. A Historical View from the Nineteenth Century to the Present." College Music Symposium 38 (1998): 126-45.