They never talked about women being able to conduct professionally,” she said.įor years she was indeed relegated to teaching music, but slowly her ambition to conduct grew. In conducting classes at the University of Michigan years ago, she was taught to conduct only as preparation for leading groups as an elementary school music teacher.“I’m almost angry about it. I could do that someday!’ That’s exactly what I like to hear,” Provenzano said. “One of our board members heard a little girl say, ‘She was a lady. Rock and rap music notoriously takes their sexism well beyond exclusion, not only keeping women off stages except as occasional dancing sex objects they also keep women in their place with a long history of demeaning, often misogynistic lyrics - 'Under My Thumb.' according to the title song of one of the Rolling Stones biggest hits.

Still, far fewer women make a living strumming guitars, thumping drums or raising batons to lead professional orchestras.įrom rock stages and country music bars to classical music halls, women watch but they don’t perform. Women may become top vocalists or virtuoso soloists of world renown. As of 2020, only 69 of the 888 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been women - just 7.7% over 35 years, according to the website of Vice Media Group. Yet, in one of society's most public domains, professional music-making of all kinds remains a bastion of male dominance. Increasingly, surveys show that most male privilege is relegated to shrouded domains, such as corporate boards and the hidden hierarchies of religion.

Virtuoso cadence cracked