Female conductors still a minority
Laut der neusten Bachtrack-Statistik sind Dirigentinnen weiterhin auf dem Vormarsch, der Fortschritt ist aber langsam.
In the top 10, Joana Mallwitz (Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the first woman to head one of Berlin's major orchestras), Nathalie Stutzmann, Kristiina Poska and Marie Jacquot (Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and, from 2026/27, the WDR Symphony Orchestra), who each hold a leading position in their respective organizations, have increased the number of their engagements by more than 80 percent.
Three young female conductors under the age of 30, Stephanie Childress, Nil Venditti and Ana María Pantiño-Osorio, have each more than doubled the number of engagements since 2023. 13 percent of all concerts listed in the Bachtrack database were conducted by women, compared to 11 percent in 2023. Nevertheless, male conductors are still clearly in the majority, and no woman has been in the top 20 in terms of engagements since 2019.
Bachtrack was founded in January 2008 and lists over 30,000 events every year. The annual Bachtrack classical music statistics are based exclusively on the events listed by the website. Although Bachtrack claims to be "the largest website for classical music", the entries are not complete and necessarily only represent a part of the overall picture.
