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The Guardian conducted an interview with Dame Evelyn Glennie to answer the question of why there are so few women percussionists. Below is an excerpt from that article with a link where you can read it in full.
In 1913, Sir Henry Wood hired six female violinists to play in his Queen’s Hall Orchestra, the first women in the world to join a professional orchestra playing alongside men. “I do not like ladies playing the trombone or double bass, but they can play the violin, and they do,” said the conductor magnanimously. Since then, we have seen a steady increase of women joining professional orchestras and bringing us closer to gender parity, indeed, some ladies have even proved they can play the trombone and the double bass. But what is happening in the percussion section?
In 1992, Dame Evelyn Glennie took to the Royal Albert Hall stage as the first solo percussionist to play a concerto at the Proms. Glennie brought solo percussion into the mainstream and singlehandedly changed the perception of percussion, showing the world that women could play it too. Two years later, the BBC added the percussion category to its Young Musician of the Year competition.
Today, in London’s seven top orchestras, women only account for 3% of all the timpani and percussion positions
By the time I was 11 years old, Glennie was releasing CDs regularly. My mum signed me up to her fan club, and we booked tickets to see her perform anywhere within a 200-mile radius. As an aspiring percussionist, I was fortunate enough to be taught by two inspirational female teachers during my teens and then had numerous female contemporaries studying percussion as a student at the Royal College of Music. The signs were good, and I thought gender stereotypes had disappeared. I had female friends auditioning for orchestral jobs and even going on trial, but none of these brilliant women secured a job in a London orchestra. I myself enjoyed a busy freelance career, yet I never felt compelled to put myself through auditioning for a manel – otherwise known as a panel of men.
Fast forward 15 years to 2021, and gender equality at the back of the orchestra in London is worse than it was than when I was a budding muso back in the early 00s. Today, in London’s seven top orchestras, women only account for 3% of all the timpani and percussion positions. In fact, there
LINK TO THE FILL ARTICLE: HERE
