By Sarah Baer
It is time, once again, for our annual repertoire report. Compiling this data in the current political and economic landscape felt particularly harrowing this year. The effects of the Trump Administration can be felt throughout every facet of life, including in concert halls and orchestral programming. The combination of the fears felt by the orchestral leadership of being targeted on account of DEI programming, the gutting of federal funding, and the economic pressure that has made the choice of every dollar spent more calculated, has all made an impact in the collective shift of programming across the country to be more conservative. Just as the climate surrounding the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements impacted programming to be more inclusive, the political motivations of the Trump Administration has reversed the course of positive momentum.
It should be of no surprise that instead of quantifying progress made by various ensembles, the data below demonstrates a steady backslide of lost progress towards the goal of diverse and inclusive orchestral programming. What had been a slow slip since the public pressure for inclusion became quieter has largely become a landslide in the wrong direction. That said, there are some bright spots to be highlighted, and a grave reminder of why this work is important.
Annual explanation of our methodology:
There has been a bit of a change from previous years regarding which ensembles were included within this study. Due to the renovations that are planned for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the National Symphony Orchestra has not released information regarding the 2026-2027 concert season. I wish the ensemble all the best as they try to find a new home while the construction is underway. When a season announcement is released I will be sure to include an update.
For this report I looked at the top 20 ensembles in the United States (as ranked by their annual budgets) and looked specifically at the works that they programmed for their primary subscription series. Any concerts labeled as Family, Holiday, Pops, or other special events not included in typical subscription packages were omitted. The goal is to look at what a typical concert season includes and sells to the largest portion of their audiences. While several ensembles have exciting chamber music, “new music,” or family programming including works by women, these events are “special events” and not heard by a majority of the listening audience; they are not included in the data.
All of the information was taken from official press releases, concert calendars, and ensemble websites and was accurate at the time of this writing – and with full understanding that programming can change for various reasons throughout the season.
The Numbers
In the coming 2026-2027 season the combined repertoires of the 20 top U.S. orchestras will present the work of 268 composers, or which 57 identify as women or nonbinary, a total of 21%. This is less than the total from last season, which was only slightly better at 23.9%.
Throughout the concert season 756 individual works will be heard, of which 83 were written by women and nonbinary folks. This is a total of 11%, and less than last year’s 13.9%.
The most revealing number is how many performances those pieces are receiving. [Reminder: the difference between the “individual works” and “individual performances” figures are about the number of times they are programmed. For example, Beethoven’s Symphony 5 counts as one work, but it will be performed by four different ensembles in the coming year. This figure does not consider if the same ensemble plays the piece multiple times over the same weekend, however.] There are a total of 1289 programmed pieces across the surveyed orchestras. Of those, 106 pieces are works by women or nonbinary composers. This makes up a whopping 8.2%, which is less than last year’s 9.4% and continuing the decline that was established over the past several years (and we used the word “whopping” ironically).
The most-performed men are Beethoven with 90 performances, Mozart with 53 performances, Brahms with 50, Tchaikovsky with 48, and Strauss with 47. These are the same top five composers as in the 2025-2026 season. Also the same as last year is the top contemporary composer – John Adams sits at number 15 on the list with 19 performances. The first woman is at spot 43 with Sophia Gubaidulina who is having six performances this season.
All of which is to say that the performances of one composer nearly matches the total number of works by women composers.
An additional consideration is not just the number of pieces, but the total time that each work represents in the concert program. This is a far more complicated figure to calculate accurately, particularly when there are new compositions where information is not yet available. However, we can get a general sense of the disparity with just a little calculating.
Without including the eight new works that we have no timing information for yet, the 106 performances by women this coming season will take about 21 hours to perform. In comparison, the 90 total performances of works by Beethoven alone in the coming season will take about 54 hours to perform.
At WPA we feel it is particularly important to highlight the work of historic women composers. Contemporary women composers are being awarded commissions, winning competitions, serving as Composers-In-Residence, and teaching. In contrast, historic women are not able to advocate for themselves. Yet, their work, seemingly against all odds, has persisted and deserves to be recognized and performed. If we are giving so much of the time to mostly dead, white men, we should also have the opportunity to hear and appreciate the women whose work survives. In this coming season, works by 15 different historic women will be heard — the same amount as in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 season:
(Arranged alphabetically, from Left to Right; Top Row: Elfrida Andrée, Grażyna Bacewicz, Mel Bonis, Lili Boulanger, Augusta Holmès; Middle Row: Dorothy Howell, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Leokadiya Kashperova, Emilie Mayer, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel; Bottom Row: Julia Perry, Florence Price, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, Josephine Weinlich)
Individual Report Cards
The best way to assess the progress towards equity, or lack thereof, in any ensemble is to look at their repertoire over time. The Tables below chart the 20 orchestras of our sample group (in alphabetical order) showing the distribution of their work over six years.
The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra will perform five works by women composers this coming season: Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver; Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter; Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone; Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1; and Joan Tower’s Love Returns. However, I argue that one of the greatest accomplishments of Atlanta is that they have programed a season without programming a single work by Beethoven. It can be done!
The Baltimore Symphony is performing an impressive ten works by women. Included is Emilie Mayer’s Faust Overture; Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity; Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet, Andrea Tarrodi’s Solus; Anna Clyne’s Pivot; August Holmés Allegro Feroce; Elfrida Andrée’s Concert Overture; Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste; Vítězslava Kaprálová’s Military Sinfonietta; and Salina Fisher’s Tupaia.
The Boston Symphony will perform only three works by women in the coming season: Sofia Gubaidulina’s Prologue for Orchestra; Unsuk Chin’s new Trumpet Concerto; and Kaija Saariaho’s Oltra Mar.
The Chicago Symphony will only perform two works by women in the coming season: Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Overture in C Major.
The Cincinnati Symphony brings home the crown for the most programmed works by women in the coming season with a total of 14. This includes: Dorothy Howell’s Lamia; Maria Grenfell’s Clockwerk; Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America; Jessie Montgomery’s Snapshots; Olga Neuwirth’s Dreydl; Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Overture in C; Emilie Mayer’s Faust Overture; Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto; Errollyn Wallen’s Concerto for Orchestra; Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet; Mel Bonis’ Orphelie, Salome, and Le songe de Cleopatre; and Eunike Tanzil’s Remembering.
The Cleveland Orchestra is performing three works by women: Stacy Garrop’s Spectacle of Light; Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem; and Dalit Warshaw’s Responses.
The Dallas Symphony will perform a single piece by a woman composer: Golfam Khayam’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Viola and Cello.
The Detroit Symphony comes in as runner up behind Cincinnati with 13 pieces by women programmed in this coming season: Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari; Joan Tower’s Suite from Concerto for Orchestra; Leokadiya Kashperova’s Piano Concerto in A minor; Anna Clyne’s Within Her Arms; Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Overture in C Major; Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Anchora; Katherine Balch’s Artifacts; Lotta Wennäkoski’s Flounce; Valerie Coleman’s new Piano Concerto; Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3; Lili Boulanger’s Of a Spring Morning; Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus Comet; and Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture.
After a stellar season last year, the Houston Symphony will only perform three works by women in the coming season. This includes: Outi Tarkiainen’s Songs of Ice; Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres; and Ethel Smyth’s The Wrecker’s Overture.
The Los Angeles Symphony will perform six works by women: Julia Perry’s A Short Piece for Orchestra; Betsy Jolas’ Latest; Gabriela Ortiz’s Altar de Bronce; Gabriella Smith’s How To Be A Bird; a new work by Hildur Guðnadóttir; Helena Tulve’s Wand’ring Bark; and a new work by Zosha Di Castri.
The Milwaukee Symphony will perform two works by women – a new work for strings by Mary Kouyoumdjian and Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture.
The Minnesota Orchestra – after years of steady increase in inclusivity – will perform just five works by women. These are Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails; Outi Tarkiainen’s Songs of Ice; Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver; Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Before we fall; and a new work by Soomin Kim.
The New York Philharmonic will perform six works by women: a new piece by Zosha Di Castri; the premiere of Tania León’s Imagenes mestizas; Florence Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes; Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem; Unsuk Chin’s new Trumpet Concerto, and Missy Mazzoli’s new Piano Concerto.
The Philadelphia Orchestra seems to be headed back in the right direction after a dip from last year. The eight pieces by women they are performing are Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell; Anna Meredith’s Nautilus; Gabriella Ortiz’s Clara; Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza; Josephine Weinlich’s “Siren Songs” Polka-Mazurka; Reena Esmail’s Concerto for Orchestra; Florence Price’s Rainbow Waltz as arranged by Valerie Coleman; and Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory.
The Pittsburgh Symphony will perform five works by women: Anna Clyne’s Masquerade; Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ The Kingdom of Silence; Sophia Jani’s I Wish You Daisies and Roses; Camille Pepin’s Les eaux celestes; and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem.
After years of frustrating consistency from the San Diego Symphony, they have actually reduced the number of works by women to just two. They are Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem and Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari.
The San Francisco Symphony will perform four works by women – Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza; Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ The Kingdom of Silence; Augusta Holemés Andromede, and Gabriella Smith’s How To Be A Bird.
The Seattle Symphony will play only three works by women composers in the coming season: Unsuk Chin’s Rocana; Gabriela Montero’s Piano Concerto No. 1; and Kaija Saariaho Lumiere et Pesanteur.
The St. Louis Symphony is performing four works by women: Andrea Tarrodi’s Liguria; Anna Meredith’s Nautilus; Kaija Saariaho’s Lumiere et Pesanteur; Mel Bonis’ Salomé from Trois femmes de legende; and Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolucion diamantia.
The five works the Utah Symphony will be performing in the concert season are: Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem; Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto; Linda Catlin Smith’s Nuages; Reena Esmail’s Double Concerto for Violin and Piano; and Lubica Cekovska’s Toy Procession.
When considering just the percentage of works by women that are being performed, the visuals are alarming. Cincinnati has set the new high water mark for having nearly 25% of their scheduled programming be works by women composers. Remember, however, that this very simple accounting doesn’t consider the length of pieces. While Cincinnati programmed the most works by women, three of those works are very short pieces by Mel Bonis, and are counted in our report as equal to Mahler’s Symphony 9. While more works by women are programmed, it doesn’t necessarily mean equal time.
There is, clearly, much more work to be done. It can be easy to discount or ignore the value of this type of work, particularly when the realities of life under the Trump Administration has become truly scary for many folks. I would like to offer, however, the ways in which art has always been and will always be a way to gather individuals together for collective catharsis as well as collective action. I am hopeful that these difficult times will force ensembles to think beyond the established offerings to create more inclusive and inviting offerings, and break down the barriers that continue to prevent many from even entertaining the idea of attending a symphony performance. I have no doubt that the performance of western art music will survive – though I hope the industry takes this opportunity and time of crisis to make significant changes. The path forward is always more inclusive – of who is on the concert program, who is on the orchestral roster, who wields the baton, and who fills the seats in the concert hall. I’m sure that the change that is coming will be difficult, but it is desperately necessary and will lead to a beautiful future.