Women in Music Leadership: Bridging the Campus, Concert Hall, and Commercial Music Industry

The Shout-It-Out Award (Conference Travel Award)

Blog Post by Allison Gurland CAMD ’20

The International Women and/in Musical Leadership conference was a very empowering and inspiring experience. Our work was received extremely well, and many people came up to us afterward to tell us how much they liked what we had to say and appreciated us coming all the way from the United States to be there. We were told that we were well spoken and presented powerful anecdotes and solutions, and I was also commended for bringing up the issue of mental health.

Other presentations we saw included talks about social justice in the context of Taiko practice, Muslim women and songs of protest, and the challenges Paraguayan female musicians face. My favorite session was a workshop about coaching in music, where a clarinet coach brought a student on stage and we got to watch them have a lesson. Through exposure to other researchers, I’ve gained insight into the wide-spread community of women who care about equality in the music industry and gender parity in leadership roles. This conference changed my trajectory for the future in terms of my hope and confidence that one day this issue will be solved.

Additionally, we got asked to co-author a chapter of a peer-reviewed book, which is something I never envisioned myself doing and am very excited to explore. Overall, the conference was eye-opening and empowering. Being surrounded by strong, like-minded women was a great opportunity for all of us to learn and grow as students and women preparing to enter the workforce in the music industry.