Current Statistics
Explores, Analyzes, and Presents current data on the representation of women composers in programming and the workforce.
A Global Overview
of 2021/22 orchestra programming according to DONNE Women in Music's 2022 Equality and Diversity in Global Repertoire Report.
Of the 20,400 compositions scheduled:
7.7% of the works were written by women, of which, 5.5% were white women.
Only 2.1% of the works were written by global majority women composers:
• 1.02% by Black women;
• 0.66% by Asian women;
• 0.31% by Mixed Heritage women;
• 0.05 by Middle Eastern women;
• 0.09% by Indigenous women.
92.3% of the works were written by men, of which 87.7% were white men.
Only 4.5% of the works were written by global majority men composers:
• 2.37% by Black men;
• 1.11% by Asian men;
• 0.52% by Mixed Heritage men;
• 0.33% by Middle Eastern men;
• 0.06% by Indigenous men.
Less than 0.1% of the works were written by nonbinary composers.
Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Evelyn La Rue Pittman
Teresa Carreño
George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)Restored by Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Margaret Bonds
Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A National Overview
of 2022/23 orchestra programming in the United States according to the Institute of Composer Diversity's 2023 Orchestra Repertoire Report.
Of the 5,470 compositions scheduled:
Works by women/non-binary composers and composers of color increased from 22.5% in 2022 to 24.4% in 2023.​
• Works by Women and nonbinary composers rose from 1.71% (2022) to 12.3% (2023), a 619% increase.
• Works by Black women composers rose from 0.02% (2022) to 3.62% (2023), a 14,739% increase.
• Works by Asian women composers rose from 0.15% (2022) to 1.16% (2023), a 695% increase.
Works by deceased white men composers decreased from 69.6% to 68.4% between 2022 and 2023.
“I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea. A woman must not desire to compose - there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?”
- Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
In the 2016 - 2017 orchestra season in the United States, music by deceased white men accounted for 86% of works performed. There were no works performed by deceased women of color.
Data from Institute of Composer Diversity's 2023 Orchestra Repertoire Report
In the 2022 - 2023 orchestra season in the United States, music by deceased white men accounted for 69% of works performed. 1.8% were works performed by deceased women of color. A step in the right direction when compared to the programming six years prior.
Data from Institute of Composer Diversity's 2023 Orchestra Repertoire Report
In the 2022-2023, the two most programmed composers in the United States were Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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Data from Institute of Composer Diversity's 2023 Orchestra Repertoire Report
Global Statistics in 2021-2022 Orchestra Season
Historical composers made up for 81% of all programmed works. 78.8% were historical men composers and 2.2% were historical women composers.
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There is less of a disparity between cotemporary men and women composers, but contemporary composers are programmed significantly less than their historical counterparts.
Data from DONNE Women in Music's 2022 Equality and Diversity in Global Repertoire Report.
Why are we listening to the same pieces over and over again?
In the United States during the 2022-2023 season:
Beethoven was programmed 239 times with 40 unique titles performed.
Florence Price was programmed 63 times with 24 unique titles performed.
Beethoven was programmed almost 4 times more than Price, but Beethoven had only close to 2 times more unique titles performed than her.
Women in the Workforce
Data from datausa.io
In the United States there is a significant difference between wages for men and women music directors and composers. This lack of equality brings additional layer to the representation of these composers.