4 - Still Exceptional? Women in Composition Approaching the Twenty-First Century

Summary

Chapter 4 discusses the situation of contemporary female composers and poses the question of the extent to which they are ‘still exceptional’. Ranging across a wide range of figures, Astrid Kvalbein considers how contemporary women, such as Kaija Saariaho, Jennifer Walsh, and Lotta Wennäkoski, explore feminist themes and provide gender critiques through their works; the tendency for women, including Judith Weir, Olga Neuwirth, and Du Yun, to engage with wider societal issues; the strategies women, such as Unsuk Chin, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Liza Lim have adopted to respond to an increasingly globalised world; and how composers such as Natasha Barrett and Jana Winderen have explored environmental issues through their music.