Reference Resources
Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras by Call Number: ONLINE2nd ed. (online)
1st ed. located in REFERENCE ML82 .H36
A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers by Call Number: REFERENCE ML102 .P5 D44 2002 v.1-2
International Encyclopedia of Women Composers by Call Number: REFERENCE ML105 .C7 1987 v.1-2
Piano Music by Black Women Composers: A Catalog of Solo and Ensemble Works by Call Number: ONLINE
Say Can You Deny Me: A Guide to Surviving Music by Women from the 16th through the 18th Centuries by Call Number: REFERENCE ML128 .W7 J3 1994
Women Composers, Conductors and Musicians of the Twentieth Century: Selected Biographies by Call Number: REFERENCE ML82 .L46 v.1-3
Women Composers and Songwriters: A Concise Biographical Dictionary by Call Number: REFERENCE ML105 .C593 1996
Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide by Call Number: ONLINE
Women Opera Composers: Biographies from the 1500s to the 21st Century by Call Number: REFERENCE ML82 .M4 2016
Books
Analytical Essays on Music by Women Composers: Secular and Sacred Music To 1900 by Call Number: MT90 .A53 2018
The Cambridge Companion to Women in Music Since 1900 by Call Number: ML82 .C36 2021
Cecilia Reclaimed by Call Number: ML82 .C42 1994
Don't Be Quiet, Start a Riot! Essays on Feminism and Performance by Call Number: Open Access
From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music by Call Number: ML390 .W16 2002
Gender and the Musical Canon by Call Number: ML3890 .C58 1993
In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States by Call Number: ONLINE
Music and the Skillful Listener: American Women Compose the Natural World by Call Number: ML390 .V66 2013 & ONLINE
She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop, and Soul by Call Number: ML82 .O27 2002 & ONLINE
Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music by Call Number: ONLINE
Women in Jazz: Musicality, Femininity, Marginalization by Call Number: ML82 .B8713 2022Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present by
Call Number: ML82 .W65 1982
Composers, Performers & Repertory (Online)
- Alliance for Women Film Composers DirectoryThe AWFC set out to change the landscape of equity in music for visual media. By creating a directory, events, performances, gatherings, advocacy and partnerships, the AWFC has begun to shift the tide of equity in Hollywood and beyond.
- Boulanger Initiative DatabaseDatabase of works by women and gender-marginalized composers.
- Global Map of Women ComposersDigital map that plots hundreds of women composers whose works have been neglected.
- Institute for Composer DiversitySearch the ICD's databases for composers and links to their websites and works.
- Kassia DatabaseA database of art song by women composers, Kassia includes songs from the Baroque period through the 21st century that and have been categorized by level, voice type, language, composer, and composer dates.
- Music by Women Composers (Theodore Front Musical Literature)Theodore Front is a commercial site offering thousands of scores, CDs, and books. Their topical lists are a great place to start learning new works.
- Women's Philharmonic AdvocacyRepertoire list of The Women's Philharmonic, active from 1980 to 2004.
Publishers & Labels
- Arsis PressPublisher of concert and sacred music by women composers. Site also contains brief bios.
- FuroreA German publisher of women's music. Site also includes a listing of women composers with a brief bio (mostly European).
- Hildegard PublishingHildegard Publishing seeks out and publishes compositions by women composers from all centuries.
- Ladyslipper MusicAlthough it is still possible to purchase some of the works listed at Ladyslipper Music, the site is now archival with links to catalog collections.
Archives & Collections
- Women's Music Archives Records & Collected Music (Smith College Libraries)The Women's Music Archives records and collected music consists of materials collected and recorded in order to document "woman-identified, woman-made music, primarily, though not exclusively feminist and lesbian in orientation" that "evolved as a definite entity" from the early 1970s.
- Women Composers Collection (University of Michigan Library)The Women Composers Collection contains approximately 2,800 musical works by more than 700 composers.
Additional Online Resources
- ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830An open access, interactive, scholarly journal, launched in 2011 by the Aphra Behn Society and supported by the University of South Florida Tampa Library. The journal focuses on gender and women’s issues, and all aspects of women in the arts in the long eighteenth century, especially literature, visual arts, music, performance art, film criticism, and production arts.
- Boulanger InitiativeOffers a mentoring program for women and gender-marginalized composers, fee-based repertoire consultation, and a listing of upcoming national concerts.
- ComposHerA French site devoted to discovering the works of women compos(h)ers. Includes lists of composers, music, and links to ComposHer channels on Spotify and YouTube.
- International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM)IAWM is devoted to the equity, promotion and advocacy of women in music across time, cultures and genres. IAWM publishes a journal, hosts conferences, and holds an annual composition competition (SNM: Search for New Music by Women Composers).
- NWIA (Native Women in the Arts)NWIA's Vision: The reclamation and advancement of Indigenous cultural and artistic expression by Indigenous women and other Indigenous gender marginalized folks*, within the diverse artistic landscape of the country now known as Canada.
Audio & Visual Resources
Films on Demand
- Women Composers in 17th-Century Venice: Barbara StrozziFrom the series Five Centuries of Music in Venice
Naxos Video Library
- The Conductor: Marin Alsop
Award-winning documentary
Spotify
- Girl Gang Music Spotify Playlists
Updated monthly, playlists feature female, nonbinary and LGBTQIA+ artists and producers in several genre.
UK Libraries
International Sweethearts of Rhythm: America's Hottest All Girl Band by Call Number: DVD 957
New Historical Anthology of Music by Women by Call Number: M2 .N46 2004 & CD 8752
Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley by Call Number: DVD 411
UK Libraries Research Guides
- African American Women Play Musical InstrumentsAn amazing research guide created by UK Libraries Special Collections Librarian Reinette Jones.
Subject Headings & Call Numbers
►SUBJECT HEADINGS & THE ADVANCED SEARCH
These links will launch searches in the Advanced Search:
- African American women musicians
- Feminism and music
- Music by women composers
- Women composers
- Women jazz musicians
- Women musicians
- Women rock musicians
- Women's music
For your own search, apply these settings:
- Search for → Library Catalog
- Search Filters → Subject contains
- Material Types → All items
Scores and AV are best searched by composer, performer, genre, and limiting to the Material Types Score, Audio, or Video, for example:
- Search for → Library Catalog
- Search Filters → Author/creator contains → jennifer hidgon
- AND "Subject contains" → concertos
- Materials Type → audio
►CALL NUMBERS -- BOOKS
- ML82 Women and music
- ML128 .W7 Women in music -- Bibliography
- ML156.4 .W6 Women musicians
►CALL NUMBERS -- SCORES
As with books, your best bet would be searching by the composer's name in an Advanced Author/Creator search and setting material type to Scores.
Works in the Western art music tradition are not generally given separate call numbers regardless of ethnicity, gender, orientation, or place of origin; see the document below of an outline of the Library of Congress Classification System.
UK Libraries Databases
- GenderWatchRepository of historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports. Archival material dates back to 1970 in some cases.
