Of the many genres and types of groups young composers learn to write for, orchestra can be espec... more Of the many genres and types of groups young composers learn to write for, orchestra can be especially challenging, requiring both depth and breadth of training. Studies have shown that the practical experience in working with an orchestra is essential to the development of the composer’s craft, and that the score is the primary source of communication between the composer and interpreters, including performers and conductors. Based on the research literature and my extensive experience as a conductor and coach of student composers, I provide suggestions and strategies for teaching and learning to compose for orchestra.
The present study seeks to understand strategies employed by judges within the context of competi... more The present study seeks to understand strategies employed by judges within the context of competitive composition evaluations, and the implications of such strategies in teaching and learning to compose at the collegiate level. Sixty-eight collegiate composition faculty participated in an online survey where they evaluated four orchestral compositions and answered questions regarding their evaluation procedures, strategies, and criteria. The results showed that the score is the primary source of evaluation for the majority of evaluators, though the quality of recordings does affect judges’ evaluations. A desirable composition demonstrates an overall completeness and artistic originality, while the latter is defined by many as a unique voice without being an obvious derivatives of known literature. Bias due to different evaluation strategies was found in three circumstances when evaluators were asked to select one recommendation instead of giving numeric ratings of the compositions. The data showed a strong correlation between the overall rating of each composition and the sub-scores using detailed evaluation criteria. In addition to obtain a deeper understanding of competitive composition evaluation, the findings are used as references to help emerging composers bridge their development between student composers and professional composers.
Citation: Ting, Chaowen “Composition Competition Assessment.” American Music Teacher 70:3 (December 2020/January 2021): 25 – 31.
While programming and repertoire selection form the majority of a conductor's artistic duties, co... more While programming and repertoire selection form the majority of a conductor's artistic duties, collegiate orchestra directors have an additional consideration as to how orchestral experiences shape and inform students' music education-repertoire choices determine what students will not learn in their college training years. The current study surveyed the 2016-17 collegiate orchestra concert programs of 53 US institutions. The findings suggest that college orchestras were more like to program American composers than professional orchestras. However, women composers and living composers were drastically under-represented. Modeling Rob Deemer's proposal for well-balanced programming with factors influencing orchestral programs, I propose a practical repertoire recommendation for fellow collegiate orchestras, to include around 20% of works by living composers and 6-8% by women composers annually.
Although women are commonly accepted in the musical world as educators and performers, they remai... more Although women are commonly accepted in the musical world as educators and performers, they remain vastly underrepresented at the highest levels as composers. In the orchestral profession, women composers’ works are still seldom performed in concert halls. In all concerts performed by the 21 major U.S. orchestras during the 2014–15 season, only 1.8% of the works were written by women. During this same season, if one focuses solely on the programmed works by living composers, only 14.8% were composed by women.
For college orchestras, many directors seek a balance between introducing students to the standard repertoire and exposing them to a wide range of musical genres, styles, and languages. When it comes to newer music, it can be quite challenging to find appropriate newer works, or those by living composers, due to the lack of access to perusal scores or recordings. In hopes of providing useful resources to fellow directors, here are three orchestral works by women, those suitable for college students and ensembles of a variety of performance levels. These three pieces are scored for full orchestra, chamber orchestra, and string orchestra, respectively.
Programming and repertoire selection play an essential role in the development of any ensemble. A... more Programming and repertoire selection play an essential role in the development of any ensemble. An orchestra’s repertoire choices manifest the personality and vision of its music/artistic director, the artistic goals and accomplishments of the ensemble, and most importantly, the core values cherished by the organization. Even though it is impossible to measure an ensemble’s artistic achievements quantitatively, a thorough data analysis of repertoire choices can help researchers understand past and ongoing aesthetic trends shared by various orchestras, and this examination could further facilitates conversation in the Classical music arena. Professional orchestras in the U.S., as manifested by the annual repertoire survey conducted by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra during 2014-2017, favor works by deceased German, Austrian and Russian composers. In understanding how much collegiate orchestral programs confirm to such a status quo, I surveyed the 2016–17 college orchestra concert repertoire from 20 leading academic institutes, including universities, conservatories, and music schools. In total, 56 orchestra performed 532 pieces by 213 composers in 140 concerts. While works by German, Austrian, and Russian composers still form the majority of concert programs, collegiate orchestras are more likely to program pieces by living and American composers. Approximately one out of every ten pieces was written after 2000, and 14.23% of the presented repertoire was by living composers, yet only 2.6% of all the performed pieces were by women.
In the article, I discuss possible reasons for and factors of the drastically low representation of women composers in collegiate orchestras programming, and propose several initiatives that could potentially promote and advocate women composers’ orchestral output in concert halls.
Though many women are accepted in the musical world as educators and performers nowadays, women a... more Though many women are accepted in the musical world as educators and performers nowadays, women are still underrepresented at the highest levels as conductors. In the orchestral profession, female conductors are rare scenes and there is only one female chief conductor / music director amongst the 21 major orchestras in the United States. Responding to this circumstance, training programs addressing this issue or open only to women conductors have been initiated in recent years. Marin Alsop has a video conducting class discussing women and gesture with Classical FM and she also held a course for women conductor at the Southbank Centre in London, UK in 2016. Other regularly offered workshops include the Women Conductors @ Morley in the U.K. and the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera in Dallas, TX. This article introduces these two programs and examines whether a single-sex educational environment would promote the number and levels of women conductors. The findings suggest that such programs do encourage more women entering the profession, but the expected impact of helping women advancing in their careers is yet too early to determine.
Written more than two hundred years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Le Nozze ... more Written more than two hundred years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Le Nozze di Figaro addresses unequal social power. While Pierre Beaumarchais and Da Ponte clearly criticized class divisions in the original play and the libretto adaptation, scholars still debate whether Mozart commented on class conflict through the music. As a Gesamtkunstwerk, an opera must be reviewed thoroughly––its music, text, character development, dramatic flow, historical and social references, and performance practice––to fully understand. In this article, I examine musical setting in relation to its implied social gesture in four arias sung by the four leading characters in Figaro. I also discuss the character of the roles reflected by the music and their relationship with other leading roles. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of Figaro and further discussions on this opera.
In the past ten years, many female orchestra conductors cracked the “glass ceiling” and were name... more In the past ten years, many female orchestra conductors cracked the “glass ceiling” and were named as conductors in top-tier orchestras. However, with more women seen on the podium, are these changes reflected in the image of the conductor nowadays? Are female conductors expected to show or hide their femininity while they are conducting? Does society accept a woman being authoritative and demanding when she is leading the orchestra? Has the image of a conductor shifted from a man to include a woman?
My study focused on the images of female conductors in the eyes of music critics and whether these critics judged their performances differently from those of male conductors. The music directors of two orchestras with operational budgets over eight million dollars were chosen as subjects of this study: Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and JoAnn Falleta of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Concert reviews published in American newspapers during the past eleven years were analyzed to see if they emphasized the gender of the conductor. When gender was specifically indicated in the review, I further analyzed the critique to see if it showed any implicit gender discrimination, biased judgment, or stereotyped prejudice due to the conductor’s femaleness.
My findings suggest that with more women seen on the podium, there is a wider acceptance of differences projected from the podium than there was twenty years ago. Music critics nowadays comment less on female conductors’ physical appearances. Instead, acknowledgments of the conductor’s ability and musicality are more often found in critiques. However, gender-related comments are still found occasionally, which shows that a non-discriminatory female image of the conductor is not yet established.
Of the many genres and types of groups young composers learn to write for, orchestra can be espec... more Of the many genres and types of groups young composers learn to write for, orchestra can be especially challenging, requiring both depth and breadth of training. Studies have shown that the practical experience in working with an orchestra is essential to the development of the composer’s craft, and that the score is the primary source of communication between the composer and interpreters, including performers and conductors. Based on the research literature and my extensive experience as a conductor and coach of student composers, I provide suggestions and strategies for teaching and learning to compose for orchestra.
The present study seeks to understand strategies employed by judges within the context of competi... more The present study seeks to understand strategies employed by judges within the context of competitive composition evaluations, and the implications of such strategies in teaching and learning to compose at the collegiate level. Sixty-eight collegiate composition faculty participated in an online survey where they evaluated four orchestral compositions and answered questions regarding their evaluation procedures, strategies, and criteria. The results showed that the score is the primary source of evaluation for the majority of evaluators, though the quality of recordings does affect judges’ evaluations. A desirable composition demonstrates an overall completeness and artistic originality, while the latter is defined by many as a unique voice without being an obvious derivatives of known literature. Bias due to different evaluation strategies was found in three circumstances when evaluators were asked to select one recommendation instead of giving numeric ratings of the compositions. The data showed a strong correlation between the overall rating of each composition and the sub-scores using detailed evaluation criteria. In addition to obtain a deeper understanding of competitive composition evaluation, the findings are used as references to help emerging composers bridge their development between student composers and professional composers.
Citation: Ting, Chaowen “Composition Competition Assessment.” American Music Teacher 70:3 (December 2020/January 2021): 25 – 31.
While programming and repertoire selection form the majority of a conductor's artistic duties, co... more While programming and repertoire selection form the majority of a conductor's artistic duties, collegiate orchestra directors have an additional consideration as to how orchestral experiences shape and inform students' music education-repertoire choices determine what students will not learn in their college training years. The current study surveyed the 2016-17 collegiate orchestra concert programs of 53 US institutions. The findings suggest that college orchestras were more like to program American composers than professional orchestras. However, women composers and living composers were drastically under-represented. Modeling Rob Deemer's proposal for well-balanced programming with factors influencing orchestral programs, I propose a practical repertoire recommendation for fellow collegiate orchestras, to include around 20% of works by living composers and 6-8% by women composers annually.
Although women are commonly accepted in the musical world as educators and performers, they remai... more Although women are commonly accepted in the musical world as educators and performers, they remain vastly underrepresented at the highest levels as composers. In the orchestral profession, women composers’ works are still seldom performed in concert halls. In all concerts performed by the 21 major U.S. orchestras during the 2014–15 season, only 1.8% of the works were written by women. During this same season, if one focuses solely on the programmed works by living composers, only 14.8% were composed by women.
For college orchestras, many directors seek a balance between introducing students to the standard repertoire and exposing them to a wide range of musical genres, styles, and languages. When it comes to newer music, it can be quite challenging to find appropriate newer works, or those by living composers, due to the lack of access to perusal scores or recordings. In hopes of providing useful resources to fellow directors, here are three orchestral works by women, those suitable for college students and ensembles of a variety of performance levels. These three pieces are scored for full orchestra, chamber orchestra, and string orchestra, respectively.
Programming and repertoire selection play an essential role in the development of any ensemble. A... more Programming and repertoire selection play an essential role in the development of any ensemble. An orchestra’s repertoire choices manifest the personality and vision of its music/artistic director, the artistic goals and accomplishments of the ensemble, and most importantly, the core values cherished by the organization. Even though it is impossible to measure an ensemble’s artistic achievements quantitatively, a thorough data analysis of repertoire choices can help researchers understand past and ongoing aesthetic trends shared by various orchestras, and this examination could further facilitates conversation in the Classical music arena. Professional orchestras in the U.S., as manifested by the annual repertoire survey conducted by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra during 2014-2017, favor works by deceased German, Austrian and Russian composers. In understanding how much collegiate orchestral programs confirm to such a status quo, I surveyed the 2016–17 college orchestra concert repertoire from 20 leading academic institutes, including universities, conservatories, and music schools. In total, 56 orchestra performed 532 pieces by 213 composers in 140 concerts. While works by German, Austrian, and Russian composers still form the majority of concert programs, collegiate orchestras are more likely to program pieces by living and American composers. Approximately one out of every ten pieces was written after 2000, and 14.23% of the presented repertoire was by living composers, yet only 2.6% of all the performed pieces were by women.
In the article, I discuss possible reasons for and factors of the drastically low representation of women composers in collegiate orchestras programming, and propose several initiatives that could potentially promote and advocate women composers’ orchestral output in concert halls.
Though many women are accepted in the musical world as educators and performers nowadays, women a... more Though many women are accepted in the musical world as educators and performers nowadays, women are still underrepresented at the highest levels as conductors. In the orchestral profession, female conductors are rare scenes and there is only one female chief conductor / music director amongst the 21 major orchestras in the United States. Responding to this circumstance, training programs addressing this issue or open only to women conductors have been initiated in recent years. Marin Alsop has a video conducting class discussing women and gesture with Classical FM and she also held a course for women conductor at the Southbank Centre in London, UK in 2016. Other regularly offered workshops include the Women Conductors @ Morley in the U.K. and the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera in Dallas, TX. This article introduces these two programs and examines whether a single-sex educational environment would promote the number and levels of women conductors. The findings suggest that such programs do encourage more women entering the profession, but the expected impact of helping women advancing in their careers is yet too early to determine.
Written more than two hundred years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Le Nozze ... more Written more than two hundred years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s Le Nozze di Figaro addresses unequal social power. While Pierre Beaumarchais and Da Ponte clearly criticized class divisions in the original play and the libretto adaptation, scholars still debate whether Mozart commented on class conflict through the music. As a Gesamtkunstwerk, an opera must be reviewed thoroughly––its music, text, character development, dramatic flow, historical and social references, and performance practice––to fully understand. In this article, I examine musical setting in relation to its implied social gesture in four arias sung by the four leading characters in Figaro. I also discuss the character of the roles reflected by the music and their relationship with other leading roles. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of Figaro and further discussions on this opera.
In the past ten years, many female orchestra conductors cracked the “glass ceiling” and were name... more In the past ten years, many female orchestra conductors cracked the “glass ceiling” and were named as conductors in top-tier orchestras. However, with more women seen on the podium, are these changes reflected in the image of the conductor nowadays? Are female conductors expected to show or hide their femininity while they are conducting? Does society accept a woman being authoritative and demanding when she is leading the orchestra? Has the image of a conductor shifted from a man to include a woman?
My study focused on the images of female conductors in the eyes of music critics and whether these critics judged their performances differently from those of male conductors. The music directors of two orchestras with operational budgets over eight million dollars were chosen as subjects of this study: Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and JoAnn Falleta of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Concert reviews published in American newspapers during the past eleven years were analyzed to see if they emphasized the gender of the conductor. When gender was specifically indicated in the review, I further analyzed the critique to see if it showed any implicit gender discrimination, biased judgment, or stereotyped prejudice due to the conductor’s femaleness.
My findings suggest that with more women seen on the podium, there is a wider acceptance of differences projected from the podium than there was twenty years ago. Music critics nowadays comment less on female conductors’ physical appearances. Instead, acknowledgments of the conductor’s ability and musicality are more often found in critiques. However, gender-related comments are still found occasionally, which shows that a non-discriminatory female image of the conductor is not yet established.
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Papers by Chaowen Ting
Citation:
Ting, Chaowen “Composition Competition Assessment.” American Music Teacher 70:3 (December 2020/January 2021): 25 – 31.
For college orchestras, many directors seek a balance between introducing students to the standard repertoire and exposing them to a wide range of musical genres, styles, and languages. When it comes to newer music, it can be quite challenging to find appropriate newer works, or those by living composers, due to the lack of access to perusal scores or recordings. In hopes of providing useful resources to fellow directors, here are three orchestral works by women, those suitable for college students and ensembles of a variety of performance levels. These three pieces are scored for full orchestra, chamber orchestra, and string orchestra, respectively.
Professional orchestras in the U.S., as manifested by the annual repertoire survey conducted by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra during 2014-2017, favor works by deceased German, Austrian and Russian composers. In understanding how much collegiate orchestral programs confirm to such a status quo, I surveyed the 2016–17 college orchestra concert repertoire from 20 leading academic institutes, including universities, conservatories, and music schools. In total, 56 orchestra performed 532 pieces by 213 composers in 140 concerts. While works by German, Austrian, and Russian composers still form the majority of concert programs, collegiate orchestras are more likely to program pieces by living and American composers. Approximately one out of every ten pieces was written after 2000, and 14.23% of the presented repertoire was by living composers, yet only 2.6% of all the performed pieces were by women.
In the article, I discuss possible reasons for and factors of the drastically low representation of women composers in collegiate orchestras programming, and propose several initiatives that could potentially promote and advocate women composers’ orchestral output in concert halls.
include a woman?
My study focused on the images of female conductors in the eyes of music critics and whether these critics judged their performances differently from those of male conductors. The music directors of two
orchestras with operational budgets over eight million dollars were chosen as subjects of this study: Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and JoAnn Falleta of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Concert reviews published in American newspapers during the past eleven years were analyzed to see if they emphasized the gender of the conductor. When gender was specifically indicated in
the review, I further analyzed the critique to see if it showed any implicit gender discrimination, biased judgment, or stereotyped prejudice due to the conductor’s femaleness.
My findings suggest that with more women seen on the podium, there is a wider acceptance of differences projected from the podium than there was twenty years ago. Music critics nowadays comment less on female conductors’ physical appearances. Instead, acknowledgments of the conductor’s ability and musicality are more often found in critiques. However, gender-related comments are still found
occasionally, which shows that a non-discriminatory female image of the conductor is not yet established.
Citation:
Ting, Chaowen “Composition Competition Assessment.” American Music Teacher 70:3 (December 2020/January 2021): 25 – 31.
For college orchestras, many directors seek a balance between introducing students to the standard repertoire and exposing them to a wide range of musical genres, styles, and languages. When it comes to newer music, it can be quite challenging to find appropriate newer works, or those by living composers, due to the lack of access to perusal scores or recordings. In hopes of providing useful resources to fellow directors, here are three orchestral works by women, those suitable for college students and ensembles of a variety of performance levels. These three pieces are scored for full orchestra, chamber orchestra, and string orchestra, respectively.
Professional orchestras in the U.S., as manifested by the annual repertoire survey conducted by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra during 2014-2017, favor works by deceased German, Austrian and Russian composers. In understanding how much collegiate orchestral programs confirm to such a status quo, I surveyed the 2016–17 college orchestra concert repertoire from 20 leading academic institutes, including universities, conservatories, and music schools. In total, 56 orchestra performed 532 pieces by 213 composers in 140 concerts. While works by German, Austrian, and Russian composers still form the majority of concert programs, collegiate orchestras are more likely to program pieces by living and American composers. Approximately one out of every ten pieces was written after 2000, and 14.23% of the presented repertoire was by living composers, yet only 2.6% of all the performed pieces were by women.
In the article, I discuss possible reasons for and factors of the drastically low representation of women composers in collegiate orchestras programming, and propose several initiatives that could potentially promote and advocate women composers’ orchestral output in concert halls.
include a woman?
My study focused on the images of female conductors in the eyes of music critics and whether these critics judged their performances differently from those of male conductors. The music directors of two
orchestras with operational budgets over eight million dollars were chosen as subjects of this study: Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and JoAnn Falleta of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Concert reviews published in American newspapers during the past eleven years were analyzed to see if they emphasized the gender of the conductor. When gender was specifically indicated in
the review, I further analyzed the critique to see if it showed any implicit gender discrimination, biased judgment, or stereotyped prejudice due to the conductor’s femaleness.
My findings suggest that with more women seen on the podium, there is a wider acceptance of differences projected from the podium than there was twenty years ago. Music critics nowadays comment less on female conductors’ physical appearances. Instead, acknowledgments of the conductor’s ability and musicality are more often found in critiques. However, gender-related comments are still found
occasionally, which shows that a non-discriminatory female image of the conductor is not yet established.