Female conductors are still rarely to be found on concert stages or even as leaders of large orchestras (only around 3% worldwide). The aim of the "Women on the podium" project is to break down the traditional role model of the male conductor and offer young female musicians a role model to identify with. At the same time, a free space was to be created in which all participating pupils could try their hand at conducting an orchestra.

Together with Ustina Dubitsky, young students from the PreCollege and pupils from the excellence branch of the Matthias Grünewald Gymnasium developed a concert program for orchestra in a rehearsal phase from 12 to 17 February 2024. In workshops, the ensemble members received an introduction to orchestral conducting and were able to gain their first experience in front of the orchestra. It was important to the project leaders that the conducting lessons and orchestral conducting were aimed at everyone and did not create new discrimination by favoring girls. In addition to the impressive progress made by the young conductors, all participants consider the self-critical, differentiated and trusting exchange within the heterogeneous group to be a great success.

In two concerts in the theater (Bibra), a varied program with Beethoven's 8th Symphony and smaller works by Fauré and others was performed. The centerpiece of the concert was the ensemble piece Traum-A by Würzburg master class student So Young Kim, which was the first in-depth exploration of new music for many young people. Not least due to the direct conversation with the composer, the ensemble showed openness and great commitment to her music, which led to a moving interpretation. In both concerts, four pieces were conducted by young people - four girls, four boys, the youngest 11, the oldest 18 years old.

The project also had an impact on the university through the broad-based team. In addition to the responsible teachers (Almut Gatz, Joachim Schneider) and a conducting student (Jayeon Ju), who assisted Ustina Dubitsky, four other students were involved in the design and organization of the project week and the supervision of the young people (Katharina Neumaier, Lynn Schramm, Julius Hutzler, Paula Kaiser).

A follow-up project is planned for 2025 or 2026. The aim is to continue both the conducting lessons for young people and the work on the equality topic of conducting.

Photos: ©Andreas Herold