how she takes the stage – women composing & performing music from the past to the present

Gender equality in the music business has become a big topic which gets tackled by a lot of different initiatives and actors. Yet for a long time women have been less represented in public music life, both as composers and as performers. In this special episode of Radio Schallfeld, we look at the history and whereabouts of gender equality in regard to contemporary music of all ages. We start from a look into the past and go on into the present. In our discussion we reflect on social roles of women and how they promote or sometimes prohibit standard roles – of « the composer », the « soloist » – and we question how the figure of the « composer-performer » can offer a special possibility for women to redefine their public personae as artists.

Co-Host of this show is Maria Flavia Cerrato, Italian pianist living and working in Austria. She is ensemble member of Schallfeld and works in her own project promoting solo piano music, chamber music and improvisation with a strong focus of collaborations with female composers and performers.

Tracks played (in order of appearance):

Clara Schumann, Ich stand in dunklen Träumen for voice and piano

Annea Lockwood, Airwalking Woman

Elisabeth Harnik, every time he punched a hole

Olga Neuwirth, incidendo/fluido

Hosts: Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka, Maria Flavia Cerrato