Following the DONNE, Women in Music project’s analysis of the 2018-2019 seasons of the world’s top orchestras (including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) last year, which found that only 2.3 percent of music programmed was written by women, an analysis of the 2019-2020 seasons has found that little has changed.

The results of this year’s analysis by DONNE, Women in Music, which is founded and curated by soprano Gabriella Di Laccio, show that out of 3,997 works presented, only 142 were written by women composers, or 3.6 percent of the total works performed.

Soprano Gabriella Di Laccio. Photo © Anatole Kaplouch

The study used information on the 2019-2020 seasons listed on each orchestra’s website and literature prior to the start of the season and took into account mainly the official concerts of each season. Gala concerts, touring and family concerts were only included when the information provided included a full program of the pieces that will be performed while chamber music was only included if it was performed by members of the orchestra.

The orchestras were chosen based on Gramophone magazine’s list of the world’s top orchestras, and in addition to...