BBC Proms 2006 lacks the eternal feminine

How many women would you expect to find among 106 leading creative artists?

Whatever your answer I bet it is a long way off zero. But that is the result the planners at the BBC came up with for the 2006 Proms season.

Here are the statistics - 106 composers are having their works performed, not one is female. And before that regular reader Anonymous emails to tell me Anne Danican Philidor's Recorder Sonata is being performed in Chamber Music Prom 6, sorry Anne was a man (which also rhymes).

On an Overgrown Path is a little more inclusive than this season's BBC Proms. In past months I've featured articles on excellent contemporary women composers including Judith Weir, Odaline de la Martinez, Vanessa Lann (that's Vanessa caressing her keyboard above) and Jane O'Leary. And just recently Beata Moon's (left) 'Perigree & Apogee' and Carole Lian's solo improvisations on Haydn's Seven Last Words have been in constant rotation on the CD player, together with Minna Keal's Cello Concerto and Thea Musgrave's Helios.

Sorry to be a Gretchen, but it's a shame that none of these fine musicians have the 'global brand' status that is now the passport to a performance at the Proms.

Image credit - Vanessa Lann by Gerhard van Roon, Beata Moon from her website . Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
If you enjoyed this post take An Overgrown Path to Cure for Marin Alsop fatigue

Comments

Pliable said…
To keep the record completely straight I note that Prom 20 lists 'A cappella choral works by ... Thea Musgrave', although the work(s) is not listed and Thea Musgrave doesn't merit an entry in the Proms 2006 composer listing on the BBC website.
Shablagoo! said…
Is Vanessa Lann pioneering a new keyboard technique of her own devising using simply her head and one hand? If this is the case, I'd like to hear her performance of Beethoven's Hammerklavier ... ;)

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