BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
There has been a lot of discussion about gender diversity in the music industry in recent years. But what we haven’t heard so much about is the way the music industry can work with other industries to advocate for equal representation of women.
The Melbourne Lawyers’ Orchestra is facilitating a concert on 6 July to do exactly that. In a collaboration with choir Habeas Chorus, the MLO (also known affectionately as Lawchestra) will perform March of the Women, featuring music by lesser-heard composers as a way to “draw a connection with the ongoing work being done, and must continue to be done, to promote diversity in the legal industry, and in all walks of life”.
One such Australian composer is Michelle Nelson, and her music will be nestled within a program featuring works by Ethel Smyth, Chen Yi, and Ella Macens among others.
We chat with Michelle about her history working in a male-dominated industry, and why events like these reveal the productive power of cross-industry collaboration.
Michelle, tell us how you first got on board with Lawchestra.
The conductor of this concert Robert Dora was put in touch with me via our mutual colleague Jules Cseszko, also a conductor. Robert was wanting to find new compositions by Australian women composers to include in Lawchestra’s repertoire.
I’d not had any previous association with Lawchestra, but had seen a segment about them on ABC television about a year earlier, and am honoured to be asked to be involved.
The orchestra will perform your piece Avance. Does this name hint at a political message?
Thanks for this question. The issue of whether art music needs extra-musical intentions or can exist on its own has long interested me. Many new compositions are constructed to reflect a social justice cause or principle, but I wonder how successful many are at encapsulating the essence of what their title claims to represent. If you take away the title, what does the music make you feel?
Avance — the French word for ‘advance’ — aims to create a physical sense of forward movement; to spark a feeling of momentum. The name was chosen to represent that idea. I’m not attempting to impress a specific political idea into the listener, but rather a modern sense of energy that leaves them, hopefully, with a positive feeling. I feel that too much modern art, though well-intentioned, can inadvertently leave the listener in an unintended gloom. Whilst art is an excellent vehicle for highlighting social issues, it can also be used to uplift people; to simply make people feel good.
Your background is extensive, with experience across classical music and rock alike. Both of these industries are often described as male-dominated. What have you found to be some of the similarities across classical and rock music cultures that you’d like people to know about? How can people working in music, whether classical or rock, make the industry more welcoming and respectful of women performers?
I’ve been a working musician since the 1980s and, if I cast my thoughts back to that era, I marvel how much the world, including the music industry, has changed. Whilst some scenes were more so than others, the truth is the whole of the music industry was male-dominated back then, but it has changed a lot since then. And though a few belittling comments are firmly lodged in my memory, I can’t say I’ve experienced a lot of overt sexism but am well aware how unconscious ‘soft’ sexism works: a woman musician might find herself overlooked for a gig that goes to a clearly less-experienced male player; a new music student is taken aback when they discover the teacher is not a man, as they unconsciously expected. These sorts of biases do still exist but, in my experience, are no longer common.
As for the difference between the meta-styles within the industry, I’ve found the classical and rock scenes are similar; they are broadly accepting. The jazz scene is where I’ve not felt completely comfortable. As a guitarist, certainly in the past, you had to measure up to a very competitive macho music ethic to get accepted in that scene. There was little recognition amongst male jazz players that women musicians may not want to treat improvisation like an Olympic event; the distinct impression I had was that if you didn’t, you weren’t taken seriously.
The concert features a program of female composers to “promote diversity in the legal industry”. As one such composer, how do you feel about joining the march of women aiming for diversity in an industry unrelated to music?
A complex set of issues that raise conflicting responses. As the daughter of an unreconstructed 1960s feminist (hi, Mum!), I think it sad we are still doing this stuff in 2019; surely the fight should have been over by now? But as a woman artist in the non-stop digital world, I understand how important it is to present positive images to girls and young women to help counter some of the negativity in their online world.
I recognise some professions have stronger, more entrenched male-oriented cultures than the music industry which, as a whole, has been very accepting of woman for a long time now. Glad to be able to help in whatever small way I can!
What impact do you hope your music and this concert will make on those who come to listen?
First and foremost, I hope people enjoy the music presented, the occasion, the efforts of all the performers and, hopefully, they also take away a positive vibe about the great abilities of women in all professions.
See Michelle’s work in March of the Women, performed by Lawchestra in Melbourne’s Werner Brodbeck Hall, 7pm July 6.
Lawchestra and Habeas Chorus are projects of BottledSnail Productions. This lawyer-run, not-for-profit initiative that uses the arts to promote mental health and wellbeing in the legal industry.
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If you like, you can give thanks to Stephanie for volunteering her time for Australian arts journalism. No amount too much or little 🙂
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