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Women composers

Use this guide to discover information sources about women composers and their artistic and compositional output. This evolving guide facilitates access to important resources, documenting the impact of women composers on all musical cultures.

Podcasts and blogs

  • Audible Woman
    • Monthly program about art music and related music genres (experimental, avant-garde, "20th-/21st-century classical"), 1980-2006
    • Canadian and international artists
    • Features live interviews
  • BBC Radio 3: Celebrating Women Composers
    • Links to various radio programmes and archives about women composers
  • Compos(h)er
    • Audio recordings of selected works of little-known women composers of classical music
  • Illuminate
    • Project promotes the work of emerging women composers and performers, and provides a platform for historical repertoire by women composers to sit alongside new works
    • Blog series highlights works by women composers, both historical and contemporary
  • Interactive Map of Women Composers
    • Online, interactive map of past and contemporary women composers from around the world
    • Includes short biography of each composer, in addition to links to websites, Wikipedia articles, and playlists
  • Into the Light
  • Listening to Ladies
    • Excerpts from interviews interwoven with samples of composers’ works
    • Resource links
    • Podcast ended in 2019; website is not longer being updated but the archives, links, and resources are still functioning
  • Musical Herstory
    • A 6-week online course exploring women composers; lectures archived on YouTube
  • Musicwoman
    • Features women who compose and perform their own music
    • Focus on women in jazz
  • Women Who Jam!
    • Daily radio program; focuses on vocal talent 

Location and contacts

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Music Library Staff
Contact:
Marvin Duchow Music Library
Elizabeth Wirth Music Building
3rd floor - 527 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E3
514-398-4695
Website
Subjects: Music

Resource key

  • McGill users only
  • Open access resource
  • Free resource
  • In-library use
  • Catalogue record

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