Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

Have you ever noticed how often you use Wikipedia? Or how more filled out articles about men composers are than about women composers? Come join us to balance the scales and share more information about music composed by women with the world! This month, our co-host is professional saxophonist and educator, Elizabeth Rosinbum! See you there!

Pamela Madsen, an internationally acclaimed composer, performer, and researcher, as well as the director of the CSUF New Music Series, will unveil the creative process behind her Opera America award-winning work, "Why Women Went West." Her expansive portfolio includes immersive concert-length projects, solo and chamber music, and multimedia opera collaborations, all of which explore themes of social change, image, music, text, and the environment. With a Ph.D. in Music Composition from UCSD and Yale University, and training in Deep Listening with Pauline Oliveros, Madsen's research focuses on compositional evolution, improvisation, electronic music, and the role of women in music. In her presentation, she will discuss how her works document historical dramas and revive the voices of women through archival research, collaboration, and deep listening at significant sites, aiming to impact the future.

This is a virtual presentation held via Zoom.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

For this Wikithon, we are so excited to be joined by Dr. Mafer Guglielmina, Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Texas at El Paso. Join us as we edit articles about women composers from South America!

In this artist talk, award-winning jazz composer and co-founder/owner of Brava Jazz Publishing, Annie Booth, will share insights into her journey as both an artist and entrepreneur within the jazz world and beyond. Annie will showcase her music, including excerpts from her critically acclaimed chamber jazz suite Flowers of Evil and compositions for large jazz ensembles, highlighting the projects that have defined her distinguished career. She will also discuss Brava Jazz Publishing, a pioneering platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of women composers and creating opportunities for their work to be performed, heard, and celebrated worldwide. Discover how Brava Jazz Publishing is reshaping the jazz landscape by expanding access to the innovative and diverse compositions of women at every level.

This is a virtual presentation held via Zoom.

Join Gina Genova, Director of Archives, Licensing, and Fundraising at American Composers Alliance, as she dives into the fascinating journey of advocacy for and friendship with the incredible American composer, Dorothy Rudd Moore. In her search for the missing opera scenes from “Frederick Douglass,” the 1985 opera of Dorothy Rudd Moore, she found many other previously unknown works by her, including pop-style songs and many works for women's chorus. Genova will detail the at time equally arduous and joyful task of finding scores and manuscripts, and how to move forward with these works in a way that honors the composer’s legacy and gets their music to rightfully see the light of day.

Boulanger Initiative partners SalonEra with for the premiere of their newest episode, “Enterprising Women,” a spotlight on enterprising women composers from mid-eighteenth-century England, Elizabeth Turner and Elisabetta de Gambarini. Featuring brand new recordings from Les Délices and harpsichordist Paula Maust, insights from Dr. Alison DeSimone (author of Women and the Business of Performance in Eighteenth-Century Britain), and a conversation between Les Délices and Salon Era founder Debra Nagy and Boulanger Initiative’s Director of Learning and Engagement, Kathryn Cruz, about the episode, the work of Les Délices, and what goes into advocating for these fascinating women composers.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

Join us for our March Wikithon featuring Dr. Katey Jahnke, Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Arkansas and general committee member of the SHE: Festival of Women in Music! This month, we'll be editing articles of composers who wrote works for woodwind quintet. See you there!

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

BI's February Wikithon will feature composers from our newest Beyond the Box, Into the Barlines curriculum, Women Composers Throughout History - Orchestra Edition, hosted by BI Research Manager and lead author Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney. 

The rich tradition of Czech music-making, famous for its incisive rhythms and the legacy of folk music, has become synonymous with Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček and Martinů. However, that list appears painfully thin as closer inspection reveals the brilliant women in their immediate circles not even to speak of the greater Czech society. If we take Smetana as a short example: his first wife, Kateřina Kolářová, was an accomplished pianist and recently-discovered composer, his early piano teacher, Marie Proksch, also a composer and celebrated pianist gaining the approval of Liszt. The writer of his librettos, Eliška Krásnohorská, not only just a composer but also the founder of the first higher-education for women in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Join Dr. Katelyn Bouska as she shares discoveries from her upcoming book, “The Women of Czech Music” and leads us in an evening celebrating the true fullness of the rich legacy of Czech music.

About Dr. Katelyn Bouska:

Pianist Katelyn Bouska is an academic and an advocate, passionate about uncovering music lost to the passage of time. In her programming, she explores the boundaries between audience and performer, the past and the present. Her critically-acclaimed 2023 solo album with Yarlung Records, Woman and War and Peace, described in music six women composers' response to war and its after effects. November 2024 saw the release of the companion album on the same label, “Hildegard and Her Sisters” featuring commissions by young female composers and her own improvisations on the music of medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen. In summer of 2024, Katelyn left her long-time Music Studies Faculty position at the Curtis Institute of Music for a sabbatical year in Prague to complete her book, “Czech Women in Music.”

Boulanger Initiative is thrilled to announce the upcoming curriculum release, "Beyond the Box, Into the Barlines - Women Composers Throughout History: Orchestra Edition." With orchestral programming trends remaining deeply unequal, this exploration of sixteen different women composers from all over the world will give you just a glimpse into the wealth of overtures, symphonies, and other pieces for orchestra that have been previously overlooked, from the 1700s to present day. Join us for a tour of this new offering with Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney, BI's Research Manager. This free presentation will take you through the curriculum guide giving you another tool for gender equity to take into your music classroom.

By registering, you can also pre-order the digital version of the new guide to have sent to you the morning of the presentation! Pre-order is also available for the physical version, which is planned to be completed in February.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

Co-hosted by Wikipedia expert and BI Research Intern Alumni Alex Alden, featuring lesser-known composers from the Baroque Era.

The pathways to musical success in the time of the Baroque-era woman composer were few and far between, typically involving a marriage of some kind, whether that be a marriage to Mother Church, or a marriage to whichever run-of-the-mill, moderately (or sometimes more) wealthy male suitor was chosen for you by your family or a wealthy patroness. The two women composers featured in this presentation, Rafaella (Victoria) Alleotti and Francesca Caccini, were no exception to the rule. Boulanger Initiative’s Director of Learning and Engagement, Kathryn Radakovich, will discuss the perks and pitfalls of a life under the veil, the role family money played in both, and how both pathways enabled two of the Baroque era’s most prominent composers to create considerable and impactful output.

About Kathryn Radakovich

Kathryn Radakovich is a highly sought after vocalist in both classical and jazz genres. She can be found performing with the nation’s top ensembles (Roomful of Teeth, Lorelei Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale), soloing with chamber orchestras and symphonies (Choral Arts Philadelphia, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Chamber Players), leading a jazz quintet (Kathryn Radakovich Quintet Presents: Nina Simone), or debuting new jazz albums (“Flowers of Evil” by Annie Booth featuring Kathryn Radakovich). As a longtime educator, Kathryn has worked with students of all ages and ability levels in myriad settings, including grade school, college, and beyond. Whether coaching students one-on-one, directing an ensemble, or leading a masterclass, Kathryn is a passionate and engaging educator who believes in accessibility and opportunity for all in music.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

This Wikithon is co-hosted by conductor and scholar Ashley Hawk, featuring wind ensemble/march composers.

This presentation is designed to celebrate marches written and arranged by women. For many reasons, the musical works of women composers have been cast aside throughout history and this session will be unearthing these hidden gems. A variety of composers and march styles will be highlighted. The presentation will also include the research and methodology that went into the catalog of concert band marches written by women that spans across three centuries. This presentation will be given in partnership between Ashley Hawk and Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney, BI's Research Manager, who will discuss the addition of marches and works for concert band, and their composers to the Boulanger Initiative Database.

About Ashley Hawk

Ashley Hawk is currently pursuing a DMA in Wind Conducting at the University of Oklahoma. She finished her master's degree at the University of Wisconsin Madison studying wind conducting with Scott Teeple. Before that, she was a band director in the Eau Claire Area School District. Ashley is also the Executive Officer in the Minnesota's 34th Infantry Division Army National Guard Band.

About Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney

Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney has built a thriving, multi-faceted career as a chamber and orchestral horn player, educator, researcher, and activist for inclusive musical spaces and educational practices. Her advocacy for equal representation in programming and performance informs both her educational philosophy and musical practices. As an orchestral horn player, Caiti Beth is the Fourth Horn with the Palm Beach Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera. In pursuit of gender and racial equity in musical programming practices, she founded REPresent, an open access database of works for horn written by composers from underrepresented backgrounds, highlighting the intersections of repertoire and representation. Caiti Beth is currently the Research Manager for Boulanger Initiative, a non-profit that advocates for women and all gender-marginalized composers.

Virtual Presentation by Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney

REPresent: Matters of Repertoire and Representation

Horn player and researcher Caiti Beth McKinney discusses several issues facing the conscientious musician, including the how and why of her project REPresent (a database of works for horn by underrepresented composers), how to program diverse solo and chamber repertoire, and additional resources for those who want to dig even deeper into uncanonized and even de-canonized music.

Biography

Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney has built a thriving, multi-faceted career as a chamber and orchestral horn player, educator, researcher, and activist for inclusive musical spaces and educational practices. Her advocacy for equal representation in programming and performance informs both her educational philosophy and musical practices. Caiti Beth is the adjunct Professor of Horn at Florida International University, where her students have achieved high levels of success, including winning the FIU Concerto Competition. As an orchestral horn player, Caiti Beth is the Fourth Horn with the Palm Beach Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera. She is in demand as a commercial horn player as well; for example, she records for exciting projects like rapper Bad Bunny’s 2023 Coachella entrance music.

In pursuit of gender and racial equity in musical programming practices, she founded REPresent, an open access database of works for horn written by composers from underrepresented backgrounds, highlighting the intersections of repertoire and representation. Caiti Beth further serves as the Research Coordinator for the Boulanger Initiative, a non-profit that advocates for women and all gender-marginalized composers.

The Modern Woman: Tracing a Viennese Legacy

In the first decades of the twentieth century, the city of Vienna nurtured a famously innovative musical culture whose standard-bearers crafted modernism in sound. Contrary to prevailing narratives, women were deeply active in the Viennese musical life of this era, as professional composers, performers, critics, scholars, and pedagogues. Though they encountered systemic forces of exclusion, these women’s works, commissions, critical press, and writings tell stories of innovation, visibility, and vision. Join Dr. Kerry Ginger for a lecture exploring women's contributions to the dazzling vocal music of early twentieth-century Vienna, the challenges which shaped their participation and ongoing reception, and the musical legacy they carried outward to worlds near and far.

Biography

Dr. Kerry Ginger, mezzo soprano, is active nationally as a performer, pedagogue, and scholar. Currently Assistant Professor of Voice at The University of the South, she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Voice and Master of Music in Opera Performance at Arizona State University. Dr. Ginger’s research interests include women composers of turn-of-the-century and interwar Austria and Germany, gender in vocal music studies, and many other intersections of music, culture, and pedagogy. She has presented at two College Music Society National Conferences, numerous CMS regional conferences, the West Central Regional Conference of NATS, and the Music by Women Festival. She has published liner notes for Albany Records and produced program notes and concert lectures for performing organizations including the Phoenix Chorale. Dr. Ginger has appeared as a soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony, Music in the Mountains, The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Phoenix Opera, Cal-Poly Bach Week, and Quintessence. An avid choral artist, she performs regularly with the Oregon Bach Festival, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, True Concord, and Kinnara. Dr. Ginger appears on Grammy Award-winning recordings by the Phoenix Chorale and True Concord for Naxos/Chandos and Reference. Now based in Chattanooga, TN, she maintains an active portfolio of oratorio and recitals.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

This Wikithon will focus on Viennese women composers of the early 20th century, co-hosted by Dr. Kerry Ginger.

Virtual Presentation by Dr. Kelsey Klotz

To be a woman in jazz (or a woman who enjoys jazz) is to contend with jazz patriarchy. Jazz patriarchy has developed its own language, values, and relationships, which determine what sounds were curated as “real” jazz, how women were depicted in jazz imagery and literature, which audiences were welcomed in which jazz spaces, which musicians were admitted to the jazz canon, and more. In this presentation, we will examine some of the myriad ways jazz patriarchy has been at work over the past century, focusing particularly on its impact on jazz’s audiences and musicians. Throughout, we will balance jazz patriarchy’s historical weight and impact with some of the work musicians like Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding have undertaken to redress its legacy.

Kelsey Klotz is an (ethno)musicologist specializing in jazz history, race and gender studies, and American cultural studies. She is Assistant Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her PhD in Musicology from Washington University in St. Louis with a graduate certificate in American culture studies. Her work is motivated by her interests in creating inclusive music histories. Her recent book, Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness (Oxford University Press, 2023), is the first critical, book-length study of the role of whiteness in shaping jazz history. It uses jazz pianist Dave Brubeck’s mid-century performances of whiteness across his professional, private, and political lives as a starting point to understand mid-century whiteness, privilege, and white supremacy more fully. Drawing on archival records, recordings, and previously conducted interviews, Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness listens closely for the complex and shifting frames of mid-century whiteness, and how they shaped the experiences of Brubeck, his critics, and his audiences. She is currently working on a project titled jazz patriarchy, which examines how both spoken and unspoken gender norms historically defined the ways in which women could and could not participate in jazz, and how jazz was/is and was/is not defined.

VIRTUAL PRESENTATION BY KATHRYN RADAKOVICH

Nina Simone left an indelible mark upon not only American musical culture, but the world. The breadth of her impact is still seen today and is partially due to her refusal to be pigeon-holed into one definition or another. She was a genre-defying singer and pianist, composer, arranger, political activist, and a fashion icon, among other things. In this presentation, we’ll explore the rich tapestry of her music and how Nina Simone not only managed to inhabit these many roles, sometimes simultaneously, but became celebrated for it.

Biography

Kathryn Radakovich is a highly sought after vocalist in both classical and jazz genres. She can be found performing with the nation’s top ensembles (Roomful of Teeth, Lorelei Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale), soloing with chamber orchestras and symphonies (Choral Arts Philadelphia, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Chamber Players), leading a jazz quintet (Kathryn Radakovich Quintet Presents: Nina Simone), or debuting new jazz albums (“Flowers of Evil” by Annie Booth featuring Kathryn Radakovich). As a longtime educator, Kathryn has worked with students of all ages and ability levels in myriad settings, including grade school, college, and beyond. Whether coaching students one-on-one, directing an ensemble, or leading a masterclass, Kathryn is a passionate and engaging educator who believes in accessibility and opportunity for all in music.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

Partnered with Tulane University Libraries, this month's Wikithon will focus on composers of the Gulf South.

Virtual Presentation by Jill Rogers

In this talk, I read Farrenc’s Nonet (1850) through the lens of her feminist praxis. After detailing French feminist thought in the mid-nineteenth century, I look to Conservatoire archival records and French periodicals to show that Farrenc enacted her feminism through supporting her female Conservatoire piano students in their careers, mainly through teaching them composition at a time when the Conservatoire didn’t allow female students to take composition courses and giving them opportunities to showcase their talents publicly. Then, I turn to the Nonet, which, through quoting Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and presenting a Beethovenien style, not only puts forth a feminist statement regarding women’s musical abilities, but also provides a critique of her Conservatoire colleague Henri Herz. This talk sheds new light on a composer whose teaching practices and politics have largely been ignored in musicological scholarship.

Virtual Presentation by Dr. Joy-Leilani Garbutt

The years surrounding the turn of the 20th century were a musically fruitful time in France. Developments in instrument building, a thriving concert scene, and a robust music education system provided the groundwork for artistic flourishing. Yet, little is known about the ways in which women were an active part of this musical landscape. This presentation will introduce the lives and music of several composers, active between the 1870s to the 1940s.

Expanding the collective understanding of the contributions and impact of gender-marginalized composers is integral to cultivating inclusivity and representation in music. Wikipedia is one of the most accessible platforms when it comes to raising awareness; however, many of the articles present overstate the family and relationships of gender-marginalized composers while severely understating their professional achievements.

BI's monthly Wikithons are designed to improve the coverage of gender-marginalized composers on Wikipedia by improving pages, updating language, and providing more extensive information surrounding the individuals and their music. All events include a brief tutorial, editing support, and everything you need to get started in making an impact! People of all gender identities and expressions are invited to participate.

This month’s theme is 19th-century French women composers featuring Louis Farrenc and her contemporaries.

Virtual Presentation by Olivia Ren

The path to performance librarianship is not always clear. Whether locating works by historically marginalized composers, addressing errata and copyright, or navigating the daily operations of an orchestra, this role can be tricky. Join Redefining the Canon Program Coordinator Olivia Ren in a virtual presentation about what it means to be a performance librarian and how to be an advocate for marginalized composers in the stacks.