Being Unable to Conduct Bruckner: Gender Discrimination in the Classical Conducting World

79 pages. A thesis presented to the School of Music and Dance, and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Music, Spring 2016.Classical music conductors throughout time have overwhelmingly been white and male and this is not due to chance. It has been only in the past thirty years that women have been able to become conductors, which is traditionally seen as a leadership role in the orchestra. This thesis looks to understand how women have historically been excluded from conducting and closely examines the lives of four women who broke through the glass ceiling to see how they can become models for today’s female conductors. Women of color, women in composition, and women in jazz are also studied. Solutions to increase equality in the conducting field are discussed at the conclusion