Our Annual Repertoire Report
By Sarah Baer (and Liane Curtis)
It’s a challenging time to be in the arts in the United States. It is unclear exactly how the next four years of the Trump administration is going to change the ways in which the arts are created, supported, and consumed in the United States. However, the White House has been clear about what voices they want to hear, and what ones they want removed from the conversation. As I worked to complete the 2025-2026 Repertoire Report I was unsure of what I would find – and what the ongoing trends will be over the next several seasons. What is abundantly clear is the need for those who care about art, no matter the medium, to be proactive in supporting and protecting it within their communities.
Annual explanation of our methodology:
As in years past, I looked at the top 21 ensembles in the United States (as ranked by 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, as 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 2025-2026 season the combined repertoires of the 21 top U.S. orchestras will present the work of 297 composers, of which 71 identify as women or nonbinary, a total of 23.9%, and just a (literal) fraction more than last year’s representation of 23.8%.
Throughout the concert season 833 individual works will be heard, of which 116 were written by women and nonbinary folks. This 13.9% is, again, just a fraction more than last year’s 13.7%.
Of course, 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. So, there are a total of 1390 programmed pieces across the surveyed orchestras. Of those, 131 performed pieces are works by women or nonbinary composers. This makes up a whopping 9.4%, and is actually a decrease from the 9.7% we saw last year.
The most-performed men are (completely unsurprisingly) Beethoven with 79 performances, then Mozart with 63 performances, Tchaikovsky with 51, Brahms with 47, and Strauss with 34. John Adams is the first contemporary composer, ranking at 15th in the list of most performed (he has 23 works being heard this coming season). Carlos Simon is the first BIPOC composer at 35th (with 10 works being heard). The first woman is a three way tie with Anna Clyne, Jennifer Higdon, and Gabriella Smith sitting at 44th, each with 6 works being heard. The first historic composer, Grażyna Bacewicz, who sits at 76th, with 3 works being performed.
Which means that, once again, the performances of 2 dead, white men outnumber all of the performances of 71 women composers.
An important part of the conversation is that it’s not just about the number of works being performed. If the goal is equity, we must also look towards equal playing time. This is a far more complicated figure to calculate accurately, particularly when there are new compositions where information is not yet available about the average runtime of a work. However, consider the length of the most performed works in the coming season for both men and women composers. For men, the winner is Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, which will be performed by ten different ensembles with an average run time of 50 minutes. For women, it’s a three way tie between Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza (average runtime 5 minutes), Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral (average runtime 13 minutes) and Julia Wolfe’s new work Liberty Bell Overture, each of which will be performed 3 times.
The disparity couldn’t be more clear. The longest work by a woman composer being performed is Amy Beach’s Symphony at 42 minutes. Meanwhile, in addition to Handel’s Messiah being performed by 10 ensembles this coming holiday season (at around 2.5 hours), Dallas Symphony will perform Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which is around 3 hours long.
At WPA we feel it is particularly important to highlight the work of historic women composers. While contemporary women composers are being awarded commissions, winning competitions, serving as Composers-In-Residence, and teaching – historic women aren’t 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. This coming season works by 15 historic women will be heard (the same number as in the 2024-2025 season):
(Left to Right Top Row: Grażyna Bacewicz; Amy Beach; Margaret Bonds; Mel Bonis; Lili Boulanger; Middle Row: Louise Farrenc; Augusta Holmès; Vítězslava Kaprálová; Marianna Martines; Maria Theresia Paradis; Bottom Row: Julia Perry; Florence Price; Clara Schumann; Ethel Smyth; Barbara Strozzi)
Individual Report Cards:
The best way to assess the progress towards equity, or lack thereof, in any ensemble is to look at each ensemble over time.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform Nina Shekhar‘s Lumina, Reena Esmail’s Concerto for Hindustani Violin, Valerie Coleman‘s Renaissance: Concerto for Orchestra, Angélica Negrón’s En otra noche, en otro mundo, Outi Tarkiainen‘s The Ring of Fire and Love, and a new work by Nicky Sohn.
Baltimore Symphony will present Andreia Pinto-Correia‘s Cortejio, Anna Clyne‘s Masquerade, Reena Esmail’s RE|Member, Marianna Martines’ Sinfonia in C Major, Florence Price‘s Symphony No. 3, Lili Boulanger‘s D’un Matin de Printemps, a new work by Grace-Evangeline Mason, Camille Pepin‘s The Celestial Waters, Maria Theresia Paradis‘s Overture to The School Candidate, Kaija Saariaho‘s, Ciel d’hiver and the Overture to Ethel Smyth‘s. The Wreckers
The Boston Symphony will perform Jessie Montgomery‘s arrangement of the gospel song “I Want to Go Home”, Tania León‘s new work Time to Time, Grace-Evangeline Mason’s The Imagined Forest, Allison Loggins-Hull‘s Rhapsody on a Theme by Joni, Gabriella Smith‘s Bioluminescence Chaconne, and Outi Tarkiainen’s Day Night Day.
The Chicago Symphony is programming the most works by women composers in the coming season in the years since we’ve been compiling data. Their season will include Camille Pepin’s The Celestial Waters, Thea Musgrave‘s Piccolo Play, Unsuk Chin‘s subito con forza, Gabriella Smith’s Lost Coast, Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury, and Jessie Montgomery‘s Banner.
The Cincinnati Symphony is also reaching a new high water-mark with nine works in the 2025-2026 season. They will perform Anna Clyne’s Abstractions, Jennifer Higdon‘s blue cathedral, Lisa Bielawa‘s PULSE for violin and orchestra, select movements from Margaret Bonds‘ Montgomery Variations, Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s ARCHORA, Louise Farrenc‘s Overture No. 2, Margaret Brouwer‘s Pulse, and Julia Adolphe‘s Underneath the Sheen.
Cleveland isn’t nearly as exciting. The four works they are performing are Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, Vítězslava Kaprálová‘s Military Sinfonietta, Olga Neuwirth‘s Zones of Blue, and Grażyna Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 4. I do give credit, however, that they have equal numbers of contemporary and historic composers.
The Dallas Symphony, which champions the work of women conductors, continues to be reluctant to truly commit to improving equity in their repertoire. The coming concert season will include What do flower do at night? by Sophia Jani, a new large work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Angélica Negrón, a new work for soprano and orchestra by Kathryn Bostic, and the sound of where I came from by Jasmine Guo.
The Detroit Symphony is another point of disappointment, with only four works in the coming year even after several years of growing commitment. They will perform a suite from Rhiannon Giddens‘s opera Omar, Gabriela Lena Frank‘s Three Latin American Dances, Joan Tower’s A New Day, and Stacy Garrop‘s Spectacle of Light.
The clear winner for Most Improved is the Houston Symphony. Their repertoire will include Julia Wolfe‘s Liberty Bell Overture, Julia Perry‘s A Short Piece for Orchestra, Gabriela Ortiz‘s Antropolis, a new work by L’ubica Čekovská, Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails, Augusta Holmès‘ La Nuit et l’Amour, Sofia Gubaidulina‘s In Tempus Praesens, Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 2, Jennifer Higdon’s The Elements: Air, and Jessie Montgomery’s The Elements: Space.
And now for something completely different, the LA Phil will be performing the fewest number of works by women since we began keeping track in 2017. They will perform a new work by Ellen Reid, Gabriella Smith’s Violin Concerto, Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolucion diamantina, and Angélica Negrón’s Cello Concerto.
The Milwaukee Symphony’s five works by women are by Andrea Tarrodi‘s Festouvertyr, Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Before we fall, Anna Clyne’s Color Field, Gabriela Ortiz’s Clara, and Clara Schumann‘s Three Romances (as orchestrated by Benjamin de Murashkin).
The Minnesota Orchestra’s year over year progess is deeply heartening, and though they are not “Most Improved,” they do win the award for Most Works by Women Composers. They will perform Joan Tower’s Made in America, Anna Clyne’s Atlas and Within Her Arms, Lili Boulanger’s D’un Soir Triste, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), Gabriela Lena Frank’s Pachamama Meets an Ode, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra, Julia Adolphe’s Underneath the Sheen, an arrangement of Florence Price’s song “The Heart of a Woman”, Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, Brittany Green‘s Testify, and Nkeiru Okoye‘s Voices Shouting Out.
The National Symphony Orchestra is holding steady – at least for now. Their five works by women composers include Mel Bonis‘s Three Dances, Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 1, Reena Esmail’s Double Concerto, a new Piano Concerto by Valerie Coleman, as well as a new work by Catherine Elizabeth. Since the NSO is part of the Kennedy Center, taken over by Trump, we might fear that even this level of diversity might not be in the cards for them in the future).
The New York Philharmonic’s nine works for the 2025-2026 season include a new work by LeilehuaI’m Lanzilotti, Bohdana Frolyak‘s Let There Be Light, a new work by Caroline Mallonee, Lera Auerbach’s Icarus, Chen Yi‘s Landscape Impression, Kaija Saariaho’s Oltra mar, Allison Loggins-Hull’s Can You See?, a new work by Ellen Reid for chorus and orchestra, and Noriko Koide‘s Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain. While this is a health array of new and recent works, we are disturbed by the lack of historic women composers. I‘m curious what will unfold when the New York Philharmonic welcomes Gustavo Dudamel as their Music Director in 2026.
The Philadelphia Orchestra has also planned to perform an underwhelming number of works by women composers, particularly considering their history. They will perform Pretty and Liberty Bell Overture by Julia Wolfe, Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra, Du Yun’s Ears of the Book, Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra, Amy Beach’s Symphony “Gaelic” op. 32, and Iryna Aleksiichuk‘s Go where the wind takes you.
The Pittsburgh Symphony will perform six works, including Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory, Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell Overture, Lotta Wennakoski‘s Flounce, Salina Fisher‘s Rainphase, Joan Tower’s Tambor, and Jessie Montgomery’s Strum.
San Diego Symphony, the ‘ole reliable, absolutely refuses to alter their course. It absolutely feels as though they can be counted on to do what they believe is to be the socially acceptable bare minimum. Their three works are Icarus by Lera Auerbach, subito con forza by Unsuk Chin, and Dzonot by Gabriela Ortiz.
As a total inverse to the Minnesota Symphony, San Francisco is embarrassing their own community with the lack of care or awareness surrounding their programming decisions. They will be performing an arrangement of a madrigal by Barbara Strozzi, Outi Tarkiainen’s The Rapids of Life, and Ella Macen‘s The Space Between Stars.
The Seattle Symphony will include six works in the coming season, including Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone, Melissa Douglas‘ Awaken, Gabriella Smith’s Lost Coast, Augusta Holmès La nuit et l’amour, Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message, and Joan Tower’s Suite from Concerto for Orchestra.
The St. Louis Symphony will performJoan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, Clara Schumann’s Three Romances (as orchestrated by Benjamin de Murashkin), Lotta Wennakoski’s Flounce, Reena Esmail’s RE|Member, Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Something for the Dark, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture, a new work by Jasmine Guo, Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails, and Nathalie Joachim’s Family.
I would say “last but not least”, except that the Utah Symphony is performing the fewest pieces by women composers this coming season. They will be performing Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza (timed at 5 minutes) and Tania León’s Ser (timed at about 13 minutes), for a total of about 18 minutes of music by women composers in their entire season. In the same season the Utah Symphony will perform two works by Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 (timed at about 30 minutes) and Piano Concerto No. 3 (timed at about 35 minutes).
While there are points of growth and improvement, the year over year outlook is underwhelming at best. The image below shows the percentage of works by women each ensemble have performed over the past three concert seasons. This chart is also limited in that it includes works not time – and, as demonstrated above, saying “two pieces” means very different things.
With that we can only conclude — things don’t look good, and it could get worse before it gets better. As people protest the attacks on essential government programs, we hope that the vital importance of the arts will also be remembered.