ABSTRACT

The women’s movement of the 1980s in Europe revealed the extent of discrimination against women in music. Despite the efforts of that movement and the many more that followed it, gender equality in terms of access to the classical music sector has still not been achieved. Addressing some access barriers, such as a lack of role models, the compatibility of career and family, and the phenomenon of “homosocial cooptation,” this chapter provides a music-historical overview of the (non-)participation of female singers, instrumentalists, and conductors in classical music culture. From the perspective of cultural activism, it discusses greater access to education as a prime condition for women to achieve musical and cultural professionalization.