“After the BBC Proms gained much attention for its ‘glass ceiling’-breaking moment in 2013, when Marin Alsop became the first woman to conduct the culminating Last Night concert, it was perhaps inevitable that other festivals would take up the issue,” writes Brian Wise on Monday (10/26) at New York classical radio station WQXR. “The Lucerne Festival in Switzerland said on Monday that it plans to spotlight women conductors as part of it 2016 edition. Eleven different women are scheduled to conduct during the monthlong event (Aug. 12-Sept. 11), including Marin Alsop, Susanna Mälkki, Elim Chan, Barbara Hannigan and Emmanuelle Haïm. The latter will lead the Vienna Philharmonic, the first time that orchestra will have performed under a woman in Lucerne. Also planned is a ‘Day of Adventure’ featuring concerts and events led by several up-and-coming women: Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, Anu Tali, Maria Schneider, and Konstantia Gourzi. The conductor focus is billed as one part of a larger focus next season on women artists, including several soloists and composers. The Lucerne Festival, which originated in 1938, last year named Riccardo Chailly as music director of its resident Lucerne Festival Orchestra.”
Posted October 27, 2015
