A report, described as ‘new research’ by the Donne Foundation and the Independent Society of Musicians, shows what are claimed to be ‘significant gender and racial inequalities’.
The report shows that:
– 89.9% of music, measured in minutes, was composed by men. Just 8.6% was composed by women. The remaining minutes were written by composers of unknown gender or multiple composers of mixed gender.and
– 90.3% of the minutes performed were written by white composers, while 9.2% was composed by people of the global majority. Only 0.4% of minutes was written by composers of unknown race/ethnicity.
Asked for a response Sam Jackson, Controller BBC Radio 3 and BBC Proms, said:
Representation is something that runs through the core of how we programme the BBC Proms. There is always more work to do to reflect the world in which we live but this year, we have world premiere performances of new music by three different women composers across the First and Last Nights of the Proms. There are a total of 10 commissions and premieres by women across the season. In addition, there are more women on the podium than ever before, and our soloists and conductor for the Last Night of the Proms – the most watched classical music event in the UK, seen and heard by millions worldwide – are all women.
We are proud of the diversity of the Proms which we continue to build on. We are rigorous about the decisions we make around excellence and are constantly seeking out new voices to add to the musical landscape. Measuring exposure or impact based on the duration of each piece of repertoire is a selective way of presenting the works we programme, which fails to acknowledge our role in making the classical music landscape a more equitable one. We have made significant progress in this area in recent years – and that’s something we’re committed to for the longer-term, too.
And quite right, too. Measuring music by the minute is irrational. If you followed that through, Telemann would be the greatest composer that ever lived (don’t go there, please).
Let me suggest an alternative measure, more suitable for present times.
How much of the music at the Proms is physically played by women?
Given the increasing preponderance of women in UK orchestra, I would suspect the ratio is around 50-50. Exactly as it should be.
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