The Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership: The Nineteenth Century and Beyond provides a comprehensive exploration of women’s participation in musical leadership from the nineteenth century to the present. Global in scope, with contributors from over thirty countries, this book reveals the wide range of ways in which women have taken leadership roles across musical genres and contexts, uncovers new histories, and considers the challenges that women continue to face. The volume addresses timely issues in the era of movements such as #MeToo, digital feminisms, and the resurgent global feminist movements.

Its multidisciplinary chapters represent a wide range of methodologies, with historical musicology, models drawn from ethnomusicology, analysis, philosophy, cultural studies, and practice research all informing the book. Including almost fifty chapters written by both researchers and practitioners in the field, it covers themes including:Historical PerspectivesConductors and ImpresariosWomen’s Practices in Music EducationPerformance and the Music IndustriesFaith and Spirituality: Worship and Sacred Musical PracticesAdvocacy: Collectives and Grass-Roots ActivismThe Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership: The Nineteenth Century and Beyond draws together both new perspectives from early career researchers and contributions from established world-leading scholars. It promotes academic-practitioner dialogue by bringing contributions from both fields together, represents alternative models of women in musical leadership, celebrates the work done by women leaders, and shows how women challenge accepted notions of gendered roles.

Offering a comprehensive overview of the varied forms of women’s musical leadership, this volume is a vital resource for all scholars of women in music, as well as professionals in the music industries and music education today.