Women Underrepresented in UK Orchestras

There was an interesting article in the Guardian this weekend regarding the lack of women in British orchestras as conductors and composers:

"... new research revealed as the annual series of BBC Proms concerts began this weekend. Only 1.6% of the conductors and 4.1% of the composers featured in the festival will be women..."

And equally disheartening:

"Although there is fairly equal representation of the sexes in many British orchestras, with women musicians making inroads into the traditionally male sections of brass and percussion, women rarely get the chance to hold the baton or have a work performed. UK Feminista's research covered all areas of the arts and found gender inequality across the board. Its research shows that 71% of performances at Glastonbury this year were by all-male acts."