FEMINALE DER MUSIK – Female Composers

In digital space the ZKM can contribute to making the musical achievements of outstanding female composers better known, who are sadly still underrepresented in the real spaces of concert halls. On the online platform www.zkm.de/feminale-der-musik selected works from the seventeenth century to the present day will be presented from 6 April to 1 May, Monday to Friday: 500 years of compositions by women.

In all epochs and in all of the women’s biographies there were obstacles, such as social constraints, envy and bigotry on the part of male colleagues, and even prohibition to practice, which these remarkable women composers had to overcome in order to work creatively and publish their music. Some were very well known during their lifetime, but were often forgotten after the artist’s death. Even today, in the ostensibly open and democratic information age, conservative structures significantly impede female composers in learning, exercise, and practice of their chosen métier.

Within the framework of the Festival one to two composers will be featured each day. The program presents early women composers such as Francesca Caccini (1587–1640), Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677), Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709–1748), Lili Boulanger (1893–1918), Mel Bonis (1858– 1937), the Karlsruhe composers Clara Faisst (1872–1948) and Margarete Schweikert (1887–1957), as well as contemporary artists like Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, and Adriana Hölszky.