Here at the Corelia Project, we’re dedicated to raising the profile of music by women and gender-marginalised composers. We’re so passionate about this work, and yet because we’re only a two-person team, we simply couldn’t document all the music that has ever gone under the radar, because spoiler alert: there is a LOT of it! So we decided to focus on covering solo pieces (not piano works - keep reading to discover a wonderful project doing just that), chamber music and concertos. Sound good? Check out our ever-expanding database or read about some of the marvellous composers.
But there’s so much more incredible music out there waiting to be performed and enjoyed by audiences, and we’re excited to celebrate other organisations that are making classical music more inclusive across different areas. Here are four fantastic projects championing diverse voices in piano, orchestral, choral, organ music, and more. Is your favourite initiative missing? Let us know in the comments!
The Boulanger Initiative has a similar origin story to the Corelia Project - both the founders were independently researching women in music and when they decided that it was time that female composers had their chance to come to the fore in classical music. Once they met each other to discuss ideas around this, the initiative was born!
Bonus shout-out: their work isn’t just limited to their database of music focusing on historical (non-living) composers - they also run the Redefining the Canon initiative, which aims to ensure the inclusion of historically underrepresented composers on standard orchestral excerpt audition lists. We love this idea as a way to encourage orchestras to sit up and take note.
The piano repertoire is enviably huge and A Seat at the Piano is doing an amazing job at bringing composers from historically underrepresented communities into the fold. By curating an ever-growing database of solo piano music, they are making it easier for pianists around the world to diversify their programmes. They even give an indication of the difficulty level of the pieces - from elementary to advanced - so there is truly something for pianists of all abilities to discover!
The Society of Women Organists not only carries out important work supporting and providing a community for female organists, but it also promotes organ and liturgical music composed by women. Anyone involved in church music will recognise the staggering volume of music that gets played or sung in services during the course of a year. On the SWO website you’ll find various resources for anyone involved in planning this music, and for organists of all genders who want to diversify their repertoire.
There is so much music to discover through the Institute for Composer Diversity - we are in awe! They champion the inclusion of composers who have been historically excluded due to race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or neurodivergence. The ICD has extensive databases detailing repertoire for orchestra, wind band, choir, as well as art song. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone working in these areas.
We are inspired by the amazing work that these and many other organisations are doing to advocate for historically underrepresented composers in classical music. We encourage you to explore their websites, support their initiatives, and include these composers’ works in your own performances and listening. Together, we can enrich the classical music world by truly reflecting the diversity within it.
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