{"id":5668,"date":"2017-01-18T09:07:23","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T14:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/?page_id=5668"},"modified":"2023-10-27T09:21:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:21:44","slug":"dr-jane-gordon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/about\/who-we-are\/our-people\/dr-jane-gordon\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Jane Gordon"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/span><\/strong>Symphony Nova Scotia\u2019s new Maria Anna Mozart Award<\/a> supports the work of Canadian women composers, providing funds for the orchestra to commission and perform a new symphonic work by a Canadian woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

This award is made possible through the generosity of Halifax resident and longtime Symphony supporter Dr. Jane Gordon. Dr. Gordon taught Sociology and Women’s Studies in Halifax for almost 40 years, and her research has been published in academic journals and books. She is a long-time Symphony Nova Scotia attendee, and has a keen interest in the role of women in classical music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to Dr. Gordon about the Maria Anna Mozart Award, and why she decided to support it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

What first brought the issue of women composers (or the lack thereof) in classical music to your attention?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I developed and taught a course called Women and Culture at Mount Saint Vincent University, as part of the university\u2019s Women\u2019s Studies program. Women\u2019s Studies helps make visible some of the issues around gender that many people take for granted, and as long as I\u2019ve been teaching, I\u2019ve always been interested in feminist issues.<\/p>\n

When my children were older and left home, I decided it was time for me, and I started taking piano lessons in my fifties. And as I was learning, I became interested in women\u2019s role in classical music. And you know what? There weren\u2019t a lot of women composers. There were a few whose names were well known, like Fanny Mendelssohn or Clara Schumann, along with some 20th<\/sup> century composers \u2013 but beyond that, there was very little available.<\/p>\n

So I began to do some research, combining my piano lessons and my academic frameworks. I studied the syllabi of the two major Canadian conservatories. I analyzed the classical music performed on CBC Radio 2. I studied lists of classical recordings and releases. And what I found is that the lack of women composers is a problem across all these levels, and that it\u2019s a vicious cycle. Music by women composers isn\u2019t being taught, so it isn\u2019t being learned. And because it\u2019s not learned, it\u2019s not played, or recorded, and that means it isn\u2019t heard \u2013 and then it isn\u2019t taught. And the cycle continues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What inspired you to do something about the problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the years I\u2019ve attended a lot of symphony concerts, and I\u2019ve never heard pieces by women. I knew it was an issue, and people I\u2019d talked to felt the same way.<\/p>\n

My husband and I had always enjoyed concerts together, and he died in 2005. One day that summer, I was sitting around at home, feeling miserable \u2013 when all of sudden I got the idea to commission a piece by a woman in his memory. I remember that day so clearly, because I\u2019d been so unhappy, and suddenly I was so excited.<\/p>\n

I approached Symphony Nova Scotia with the idea, and together we commissioned a new work from Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum called Halifax Harbour<\/em>. Symphony Nova Scotia premiered Halifax Harbour<\/em> in January 2008 to great success, and after that it was performed in Ottawa and Thunder Bay, and in April 2017 it will be performed in Ottawa and Toronto. It\u2019s not always common for new Canadian music to get that kind of exposure, and I thought, how can we carry this on further?<\/p>\n

My first thought was, well, when I die, I\u2019ll give the Symphony some money for this purpose. But then I realized that I don\u2019t have to wait until I die \u2013 I can do it now! Then I get to experience the fun of it.<\/p>\n

This is a very small step, but it\u2019s something I can do. And it makes me feel happy too, because I care about the Symphony, and I care about women\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In your opinion, why are women composers under-represented in the classical music \u201ccanon\u201d? What factors have helped perpetuate that problem over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very hard to be exposed to music by women composers, because it\u2019s not often taught or recorded or performed. The music is out there \u2013 the Grove Dictionary of Women Composers<\/em> is 500 pages long \u2013 but the music itself is very difficult to find. And when music teachers aren\u2019t familiar with it, their students aren\u2019t either, and when those students become professional musicians or music directors, they don\u2019t perform it. Again, it\u2019s a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n

I think part of the problem is that we\u2019ve all absorbed the dominant culture, and we think that women\u2019s compositions can\u2019t be good, if they haven\u2019t been prominently recognized and performed. We forget that a lot of the people we consider great composers now weren\u2019t always respected in their lifetimes, either. Many of us have seen the film Amadeus<\/em>, which shows how when Mozart was alive, Antonio Salieri\u2019s work was much more popular. But today, Salieri\u2019s music isn\u2019t often played, and Mozart is recognized as the great composer of his time.<\/p>\n

We see this phenomenon everywhere \u2013 in art, in theatre, in pop culture. I\u2019m old enough to remember when Prince Charles was considered the most eligible bachelor in the world!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What can be done to help correct the lack of women composers in classical music, and bring more compositions by women to the forefront?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a challenge. It\u2019s so hard for people to hear the music if it\u2019s not recorded or performed. But I think at least if the music is created, it has the potential for being performed and is available for people to search out.<\/p>\n

If you look at orchestra musicians, we only started getting women in orchestras when blind auditions were instituted. It\u2019s very easy to criticize and exclude women based on what you see, and what your preconceptions are \u2013 but when orchestras instead started basing their decisions on what they heard, they realized that women performers are just as good as men. I hope we\u2019ll see this happen with women composers as well, and that as we start including women\u2019s creative work in concerts, it won\u2019t be seen as strange anymore, but natural.<\/p>\n

I also think we need to start at the beginning of the cycle, with the students and teachers. Conservatory Canada has a requirement that every exam have one piece by a Canadian composer \u2013 why not have a requirement for a woman composer too? I also encourage music teachers to take the time to find music by women, because it is out there, and when people start playing it, they\u2019ll appreciate it more.<\/p>\n

Finally, we need to raise awareness of this issue, and I think commissioning these works by women is a small step. People need to know it\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nWho are your favourite women composers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My personal favourite is \u00c9lisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre<\/a>, a French musician and composer. She lived from 1665 to 1729, and she was highly regarded at the time, though her music is rarely performed today. In my opinion, she\u2019s just as good as many of the baroque composers whose works are far more frequently heard.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also heard it theorized that some of the pieces that Felix Mendelssohn published were actually written by his sister Fanny, but that it was easier to get them published with his name on them. But of course, we don\u2019t actually know.<\/p>\n

There are also stories that Mozart\u2019s older sister Maria Anna Mozart wrote music too, but none of them came down to us \u2013 and that\u2019s why I wanted to name this award after her. Her music is what happens to the creativity of so many women \u2013 it just disappears. It takes real effort for people to find it, if it still exists at all.<\/p>\n

In terms of modern women composers, I like Elizabeth Raum<\/a> a lot, which is why I asked her to write my first commission. I also enjoy the work of the Canadian women composers Violet Archer, Barbara Pentland, Jean Coulthard, and Ann Southam.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your response to the comment that \u201cWomen composers just aren\u2019t as good at writing music as men?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think one of the ways to deal with that is to say that there are a variety of tastes and preferences. And while people can make arguments for what\u2019s \u201cbest\u201d, it\u2019s always up for debate, and that\u2019s the same in any genre of music. Is there an objective standard that measures the quality of the work? How is that determined?<\/p>\n

Sometimes I also think it\u2019s a fluke, what gets chosen to be popular or accepted. We underestimate the role of randomness in social life, and the impact it has on our likes and our decisions. Social media is a great example of this \u2013 who knows why certain things get picked up, and not others?<\/p>\n

Again, we also need to point out that people\u2019s work is not always recognized in their lifetime, or even after. Just because creativity isn\u2019t recognized doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s not valuable or worthwhile, or that it won\u2019t be recognized as outstanding in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your gift is helping to make real change in our community on this issue. What do you recommend for others who have similar issues they\u2019d liked addressed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to see an organization do something, give them some money! I was a single mother when I was raising my kids, I worked hard, and I was frugal. You don\u2019t have to be super wealthy. Money is a resource \u2013 use it for the things that matter to you.<\/p>\n

\n

To learn more about the Maria Anna Mozart Award, please click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Symphony Nova Scotia\u2019s new Maria Anna Mozart Award supports the work of Canadian women composers, providing funds for the orchestra to commission and perform a new symphonic work by a Canadian woman. This award is made… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":4582,"menu_order":23,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-our-people.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5668"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19651,"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5668\/revisions\/19651"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/symphonynovascotia.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}