News and music to start your week!

Jessie Montgomery, pictured above, is profiled by Angela Allen, about diving into the world of opera.  Read more at Classical Voices in America.

The Daffodil Perspective has a list of 10 ways to make classical music more accessible.  Read the great blog article here!

Rebecca Letjes, writing for for I Care If You Listen speaks about gendered spaces in music, the “woman composer” question, and the need for women’s voices to be heard in all contexts.

The Guardian asks Anna Meredith about some of her favorite things – from music to board games!  Also there are links so you can explore her music!

ClassicalFM is celebrating that 8 of the  top 100 conductors in the world are women – compared to just 1 in 2013.  Progress, but still so very far to go.  In the US, it looks like there is so much progress in the mid-level positions, but the very highest ranks still just look like “The Cheese Stands Alone”  — Marin Alsop.

Congratulations to Hildur Guðnadóttir – the first woman to win a Golden Globe for best score!  Read on here. More about women winning awards at the Inaugural Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards, here. 

How are you starting off your new year?  Do you have our fabulous calendar? Here (for in the US) and here (international).