The programme of 111 orchestras in 30 countries during this concluding concert season consisted of works that were composed 92.5% by male composers, mainly white, deceased composers. Only 7.5% of the repertoire came from women. That is even slightly less than the results recorded by the English organization Donne, Women in Music in the 2021-2022 season. Despite increasing calls for diversification, nothing is changing. The five orchestras studied in Belgium are even more stubborn learners, with 5 to even 0% works by women. Action is needed.
Yes, on Klara you nowadays hear much more work by female composers, thanks to a new generation of programme makers. And yes, hardly a week goes by without a cd being released featuring rediscovered or newly discovered work by women. And yes, for the music lover Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger or Florence Price are no longer completely unknown names. But what about the major orchestras, on the concert stages of the major halls?
When you really start counting like Donne, Women in Music, the conclusion is sobering: of the 16,327 works programmed by 111 orchestras in 30 countries in the 2023-2024 season, 92.5% were credited to a male composer. If any evolution is noticeable in the global orchestral repertoire, it is actually a slight decline for female composers: their representation has fallen from 7.7% to 7.5% since the 2021-2022 season according to the London organization.
This involves the programming of the world's most important orchestras, from America across Europe and Russia to China, Japan and Australia. Performers, therefore, of the so-called 'great works' on the 'great stages'. Chamber music concerts were only included in the analysis when performed by members of the orchestra.
Deceased white men
Donne, Women in Music zoomed in even further on the 16,327 works. The majority of that 92.5% 'male' pieces are by deceased white men. Here too an increase compared to the previous report, namely 78.4% versus 76.4%.
The top 10 of most performed composers remained virtually unchanged compared to the 2021-2022 analysis: Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Mahler and Sibelius. Together these ten 'historical' men account for 30.6% of all performed works. In other words, they were played more than four times as often as the total of all works by women. The top 25 (which includes more predictable names such as Bach, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann) represents 50.6% of the programming. In that top 25 only one living composer: John Williams. 
Living composers account for only 11.5% of the programmed pieces – only 1.4% of the repertoire was written by a still living woman.
Global majority in the minority
Hardly 7.5% of the works on the programmes this season were written by a woman. In 5.8% of the pieces it concerns white women.
Donne, Women in Music broke down the figures even further: only 1.6% was written by female composers from the 'global majority'. The organization categorizes as 'global majority' people who are black, Asian or brown, have mixed heritage, are indigenous to the global south and/or are called 'ethnic minorities'. In the previous count, the share of that global majority among women was still 2.1%. Among men it was 3.2%, also a decline compared to 4.5% in 2021-22.
'Worldwide, this group currently represents approximately 80% of the world population,' the organization states. 'Despite years of discussion about the importance of inclusivity, the representation of women and composers from the global majority in the 2023-2024 season has actually declined further.'
Finally, Donne, Women in Music also listed the share of works written by non-binary composers. That is negligible at less than 0.1%.
From Lili Boulanger to Clara Schumann
The female composer with the most checkmarks next to her name was the French composer, in 52nd place. In the previous count that was still Florence Price, who is now sixth in the top 10 of women and 83rd in the overall ranking. This American received significant attention due to the – literal – rediscovery of her work and the recording of her symphonies by the leading Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as by the noted Chineke! Orchestra.
The top 10 of most performed – which is therefore very relative – female composers is completed by Anna Clyne, Sofia Gubaidulina, Gabriela Ortiz, Kaija Saariaho, Unsuk Chin, Grażyna Bacewicz, Anna Thorsvaldsdottir, Jessie Montgomery and Clara Schumann. 
Five Belgian orchestras
Just like in the previous analysis, Donne, Women in Music also examined the programming of five Belgian orchestras this season. They don't even reach the global average of 7.5% female composers: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (5.9%), Nationaal Orkest van België (5.3%), Brussels Philharmonic (2.4%), Orchestre Philharmonic Royal de Liège (0.5%) and Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen (0%).
That latter orchestra seems to be completely undoing her so promising performance from 2020 for the second count in a row. At the time it unearthed the third symphony by Louise Farrenc from obscurity, a fantastic work that had not been heard for more than 150 years, but in that corona year was performed a dozen times. Donne, Women in Music however overlooked that last season a new composition by Murielle Lemay was performed. She followed a trajectory as a conservatory student at the SOV Composers' Academy.
'The opportunity and strength lies in giving a voice to composers of today', reacts Frederik Styns, former intendant of SOV, when asked. He also points out that the number of programmed works at SOV is smaller than at other orchestras and that conductors often opt for the repertoire of the more well-known composers. Conductor Kristiina Poska performed the violin concerto by Florence Price, although not with SOV, but with London Philharmonic.
Consolidation of the canon
The analysis illustrates, according to Donne, Women in Music, nonetheless 'a growing trend towards the consolidation of a classical canon, which consists mainly of historical white men, at the expense of broader diversity'.
The overwhelming predominance of historical white male composers in programming is not only a reflection of prejudices from the past, but a continuous confirmation of them, despite all discussions about equality and diversity. 'The future of classical music must not be limited to the echoes of the past, but must resonate with the diverse voices of today', states Gabriella Di Laccio, soprano and founder of the organization. 'Why do the cultural expressions and voices of millions of people remain absent from our global stages? Why do we miss the opportunity to open our doors and welcome a new audience that still feels excluded in our concert halls?'
Call to action
The report must also be a call to action, according to Di Laccio. The Donne Foundation she founded already has a global network of specialists ready to advise programming teams in developing more diverse and inclusive programs, and The Big List on her website lists more than 5,000 female composers.
'There is still a need for joint efforts to address this imbalance in the classical music sector', concludes Gabriella Di Laccio. After all, 'by embracing diversity we enrich the musical landscape, not only for current enthusiasts, but also for future generations who will see classical music as a vibrant, dynamic and inclusive art form. Hesitating or doing nothing maintains a status quo that is exclusive and discriminatory.'