a report by Caroline Collingridge, as published in the IAWM Journal, June 1995.
With generous assistance from South East Arts and the British Council I attended the 9th International Congress on Women in Music. I was there as the UK representative of the organisation 'Women in Music UK' and also as a flute soloist to give a short recital of works by living British women composers. I had previously attended the 7th and 8th International Congresses (Netherlands and Spain respectively) and the MusicAlaskaWomen Congress (Fairbanks, Alaska) in August 1993 so this was a chance to continue the friendships that I had made in previous meetings and also to make new contacts.
The Congress was held in the Wittgensteinhaus, Parkgasse, which was very close to the centre of Vienna (Wienmitte), built by Paul Wittgenstein from 1927-29 for his sister and classified as a historical monument since 1971. It is now the seat ofthe Cultural Departmen ofthe Bulgarian Embassy and is used extensively for international cultural events. The Congress was organised by 'Femmage', the Association for Feminist Arts and Culture, founded in 1991 in order to contribute to a broader comprehension and knowledge of women's arts and to promote and support women artists by presentations and information. Assistance was also given to the Congress by the International Alliance for Women in Music (formerly International League of Women Composers and International Congress of Women in Music) and the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna. As well as providing an article for the Congress brochure I took with me leaflets, books, brochures and CDs about women musicians in the UK. The Congress opened with an introduction by the two main organisers, Regina Himmelbauer and Ulricke Sladek, who put in an enormous amount of effort to ensure that the Congress was successful and who were always on hand to answer any queries that anyone might have. Congratulations must go to them for their vision and energy in realising such an enormous project. Unfortunately the Minister for Women's Affairs, Johanna Dohnal, who was to have given the welcome, was unable to attend.
My initial impression was that there were fewer participants than in previous years (31 full Congress participants from 12 countries) and the concerts in the Concert Hall in the basement of the Wittgensteinhaus, for whatever reason, were not particularly well-attended, which was a shame because we were treated to music of a very high standard. The other impression was that this Congress did not have as much contact or collaboration with the wider community of Vienna. Vienna is still one of the world's major musical and artistic capitals and it seemed a pity that women's music was not a regular feature in the Musikverein, for instance, or that more members of staff from the Hochschule fur Musik were not in evidence at the Congress. Maybe, in future congresses, music and other cultural learning centres and organisations could be invited to contribute or collaborate in some way and that the wider public has direct information and can also participate, and this may also alleviate some of the load of responsibility from the organisers' shoulders. Of course, it does require adequate funding, and if the funding is small this makes the task more difficult.
Throughout the Congress there was an audio and video 'bar' stocked with CDs and cassettes of various recordings and a selection of the 'Donne in Musica' television series (about which more later). 'Furore Verlag' from Kassel in Germany had a range of sheet music and recordings for sale; their publications are excellently produced for anyone who doesn't know where to get music by women composers (free catalogue available). 'Frauenzimmer' Bookshop also had a range of books for sale to interested participants.
The lectures which I thought provoked much interest and discussion were "The Role of the Female Conductor Under the Aspects of Gender Studies" given by Mary Ellen Kitchens who is an American now living in Germany, herself a conductor and musicologist. She used slides of famous conductors as well as some of the pioneer women conductors (like Sarah Caldwell) who are almost forgotten today but who have paved the way for people like Sian Edwards of English National Opera. Some of the questions posed are vital if we are to rid ourselves of our own prejudices‹What difference would there be if the critic is male(female) writing about a female (male) conductor? What words are used in orchestral rehearsals to encourage the players if conductor is male/female? Does body language make any difference to players' performance? What reactions do members of an audience have to male/female composer on the programme/conductor/performers/manager/attendants etc.? Are sales of CDs affected if composer/conductor is female? Are rehearsal techniques/leadership styles different and, if so, what effect does this have on players/audiences? What power structures pre-exist and how do we cope with these or change to different structures? It was clear that there is much still to be done if we are be an unprejudiced world where positive freedom of expression is welcome by all.
The other lecture I wish to focus on was by Tera de Marez Oyens entitled "When we lose audience: on the dichotomy between contemporary music and audiences." She reiterated an old Dutch phrase regarding critics who can do so much damage when writing about new music: 'That which the farmer doesn't know he doesn't eat.' She gave very positive suggestions as to how a composer can write music that was original, personal and yet accessible to the receiver's ears. For audiences she suggested: be patient to listen more than once to a new piece; use intuition and own judgement rather than a critic's; take an interest in new sounds with an open mind; start at an early age to listen to contemporary music (here would be space for another lecture on music education!) For composers she suggested: keep away from the 'mystical' aura; explain simply and clearly what needs to be explained; don't involve the listener in complicated techniques; try to show joy in the music; have recognisable motives; think of the psychology of the listener. A copy of Tera's lecture is available from her or the Congress organisers, as are copies of other lectures.
Of the many concerts I will pick only a few that were memorable for me. From a technical point of view the voice of Sainkho Namtchylak was truly amazing. She has studied the overtone and throat chanting of Tuva and other sources from Siberia and Mongolia and the pitch range was from a deep bass to a very high coloratura. She lives in Vienna and has built up quite a following and has made several CDs‹I was certainly moved by what I had heard. From a dramatic point of view the music theater works for soprano and electronic tape give by Kristin Norderval (Norway/USA) was brilliantly realised. The work took the form of a series of compositions which followed on from each other: 'Alone "Levadi"' by Diane Thome, 'Eurydices's Death, Strange Skies, Unreal Light & Sound' by Anne le Baron, 'The Eleventh Hour' by Kristin Norderval, and 'By a departing light, preparation for solo flight, so flight' by Leslie Wildman. The trio concert of works by Austrian composers on the Friday evening was well played by Sara Cox, Bettina Schmitt and Edda Breit. The final item was the Trio by Nancy van de Vate which was not only brilliantly crafted but also spoke to me from the heart and it was a great honour that we were able to witness the tribute given by the IAWM to Nancy van de Vate, who was there in person, for her vision and energy in establishing and overseeing the progress of the International League of Women Composers. She has been and still is a person of great inspiration to women musicians and I felt very privileged to have met her.
We were able to see two programmes from the 'Donne in Musica' series created and presented by Patricia Adkins Chiti from Italy. Patricia has moved mountains to create this series and I am already in the process of trying to persuade television companies in the UK to buy the series. They are, from the little I saw, well worth watching.
Finally, Sally Reid outlined the IAWM proposal for creating a world-wide network using the computer internet‹an electronic multi-media database on women composers and women-in-music topics hosted by Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. The Web Site currently includes headings: About IAWM; IAWM publications; discographies, bibliographies and syllabi; individual composer homepages; publishers' catalogues; opportunities listings; other Women in Music organisations; future festivals; other composer resources. More information about this will be in the next IAWM Journal. For those of us in Europe two points were raised which might cause a problem regarding computer information: first, not as many European musicians have access to the kind of computer resources mentioned, unless one is attached to a university, and this rules out many women musicians. Secondly, there is the problem of copyright and the Performing Right Society. Putting information on a world-wide network means that this information is open to use and abuse by anybody in the world, so it is worth bearing this in mind especially as the computer networks are growing so rapidly.
My only disappointment was that, due to lack of time on the final day and the over-running of some of the presentations, my recital had to be cancelled and I apologise to those composers whose works I was to have performed that their creations were not heard during the Congress.
© C. Collingridge 13.05.95