More music written by women has been commissioned, premiered and recorded in the 21st century than at any other time in history. And yet only 5% of the programming of the world's top 100 orchestras includes music written by women.
May the music of Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Anne Amalia of Prussia, Laura Lombardini Sirmen, Maria Theresia von Paradis, Fanny Mendelssohn, Louise Héritte-Viardot, Clara Wieck, Cécile Chaminade, Lili Boulanger, Amy Beach, Ruth Crawford Seeger, María Teresa Prieto, Alicia Urreta and Ruth Schönthal is not only unfair, but absurd.
But there is reason to rejoice: of today's most important female composers, three are Mexican: Ana Lara (1959), Gabriela Ortiz (1964) and Diana Syrse (1984).
So we talked to them and asked them:
How has your path (struggle) been to not only make composition a way of life, but also to have your music increasingly performed both in Europe (cradle of the symphonic tradition, a tradition of masculine essence) and in Mexico?
Here are their answers:
ANA LARA
Sometimes I think I became a composer even though some of my teachers made me feel like I was on the wrong path. I remember one in particular—a composition teacher—who told me, “Once again, you’ve missed the chance to keep quiet,” when I presented my piece to him. But now that I’m in the professional world, I’ve met great artists who have taken a genuine interest in my work. I’m not the kind of person who seeks out opportunities or connections, but I’ve taken advantage of the ones that have come my way. I’ve been fortunate that my music has done the work of convincing others—something I’m incapable of doing myself. At first, especially with my early orchestral pieces, people told me that my music didn’t sound like a woman’s—that I wrote like a man. I suppose they meant it as a compliment. And of course, I’ve heard and read misogynistic comments from my colleagues, in the hallways and in the print media. Fortunately, that has changed in recent years, and that has made it possible for my music to be heard more and more here, at home, and in other parts of the world. It’s as if, all of a sudden, people want to discover the soundscapes created by women.
GABRIELA ORTIZ
Throughout history, women have had to overcome great obstacles, marked by gender difference. We have gradually emerged in the musical art with great difficulty. However, as is well known, many of us have rebelled against these obvious forms of injustice, and have fought for recognition and a place in society.
As a tribute to this struggle, Gabriela Ortiz composed a work for the German composer Clara Wieck, which was premiered in Mexico in January 2024 by the Sinfónica de Minería. About this work, named ClaraGabriela Ortiz explains:
This piece represents my recognition of Clara, a tribute to her, and my resounding and definitive answer to her question. It also represents my gratitude to all women who, in their time, challenged the society in which they were educated by manifesting their artistic work (...) "except for My Answer (which occupies the central part of the piece), the sections of the piece are intimate sketches or imaginary traces of the relationship between Clara and Robert. My original idea was to transfer their inner sounds to an ephemeral canvas, without trying to illustrate or interpret, but simply to give voice and create, through my ear, the expressiveness and unique strength of their complex, yet fascinating personalities (Clara's complex and fascinating inner world is represented in melodic silhouettes that appear and disappear throughout the work).
DIANA SYRSE
