Spring Semester Class

There is a class that I want to sign up for during Spring semester. I found out this morning it will count toward my degree as a history, although I would be willing to take it as an elective. It combines what has long been the time period that fascinates me the most with women composers and the role of gender. The class is a Baroque semester and is: Courts and Convents, Courtesans and Castrati: Music and gender in early modern Europe.

My research methods professor is teaching it next semester. One of our assignments for this week is to spend some time with a scholarly article (and answer a bunch of questions about it). We have the get the article approved by her and I found three articles I was interested in- one about Francesca Caccini and two about Barbara Strozzi. Either way, I'll probably read all the articles since I am interested in the topic. When my professor e-mailed me back to give me the "verdict" on the articles, she also mentioned the class she was teaching. I am really excited about this class.

I read the e-mail before my run this morning. As I was running, I started thinking about my interest in women composers, which led me to think about women conductors. Conducting is a relatively young profession for women- but who were some of the first prominent women conductors? Or, have there really been prominent women conductors? If not, what women first decided they wanted to conduct and how did they get there? What was that first rehearsal like? I bet it was not co-ed. But what about the first co-ed rehearsal?

These are things I'd like to explore.