ABSTRACT
The history of choral music—and that of Western art music more broadly—has long been defined by the achievements of male composers and conductors. The history, typology, and purposes of women’s roles in choral music remain largely unwritten. At issue is the silencing and undermining of women’s voices through the ages—a legacy people have not fully come to terms with in the choral field'. Women’s choirs and vocal ensembles are not new in the history of choral music. Educational institutions for girls and women in the Western world have traditionally encouraged group singing and choral activity. The choral practice of women, their societal role, mission, and function is changing. In the latter half of the twentieth century one can detect a linkage between women’s choral organizations and the women’s movement that emerged from the activism for universal suffrage and proceeded toward the twenty-first century by way of various feminist movements.
