Donne, Women in Music has released its latest research, taken from an analysis of the 2021–2022 season programs of 111 orchestras across 31 countries. The Equality and Diversity in Global Repertoire report covered the mainstage performances of leading orchestras around the world and revealed that 92.3% of the works were written by male composers, of which 87.7% were white. This represents only a slight improvement on the previously reported 2018–2019 season, in which 97.7% of works were by men. This year’s results are based on an examination of internationally-acclaimed orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra; the Los Angeles, New York, Berlin and BBC Philharmonics; and Australia’s own Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

Donne, Women in Music. Photo supplied.

Internationally, out of 20,400 scheduled performances, only 7.7% of programmed works were composed by women, of which 5.5% were white. The report does, however, recognise a small increase from last year’s research, which revealed that for every 20 performances of a male composer, only a single work from a woman was performed.