The Women's Philharmonic (TWP) was a San Francisco-based, professional orchestra founded by Miriam Abrams, Elizabeth Seja Min and Nan Washburn in 1981 and disbanded in 2004.

History

Originally known as the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic, in 1998, the orchestra's repertoire consisted almost entirely of works by more than 150 women, including more than 130 premiere performances and more than 40 commissions
A partial list of TWP's repertoire
compiled by Women's Philharmonic Advocacy, includes 283 works. TWP's mission was "to change the face of what is played in every concert hall by incorporating works by women composers into the orchestral repertoire." TWP's long list of accomplishments includes multiple awards for ''Adventurous Programming'' from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

and the

American Symphony Orchestra League The League of American Orchestras, formerly the American Symphony Orchestra League, is a North American service organization with 700 member orchestras of all budget sizes and types, plus individual and institutional members. Based in New York Ci ...

. In 2008, Women's Philharmonic Advocacy was formed "in order to recognize the achievement of The Women's Philharmonic (1980-2004) over their 24 years of activity, to build on this work by advocating for the performance of women composers by orchestras and ensembles, to address the place of women composers (historic and contemporary) in today's repertoire of orchestras and ensembles in the US and internationally, and to present information that highlights the shortage of programming of works by women; the heritage of The Women's Philharmonic emphasizes that this should and can be corrected."See 'Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy' (a non-profit organization founded in 2008 in order to build on the achievements of The Women's Philharmonic)
Accessed 30 December 2016 The Philharmonic continues in existence as the Community Women's Orchestra, which was initially founded in 1985 by Nan Washburn as an adjunct to The Women's Philharmonic.

Leadership

Music directors

* Elizabeth Seja Min (music director, 1981–1985) * Nan Washburn (artistic director and associate conductor, 1981–1990) *

JoAnn Falletta JoAnn Falletta (born February 27, 1954 in Queens, New York) is an American conductor. Biography Falletta was raised in the borough of Queens in an Italian-American household. She was educated at the Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard Sch ...

(music director, 1986–1997) *

Apo Hsu Apo Hsu or Hsu Ching-hsin () is a conductor born in Taiwan and resident of both Taiwan and the United States. Hsu served as music director of the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Spr ...

(music director, 1997–2003)

Guest conductors

* Ebrina Alfonso *

Gisele Ben-Dor Gisèle Ben-Dor ( Buka; born 26 April 1955) is an American Israeli orchestra conductor of Uruguayan origin. Conductor Ben-Dor was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, to Polish Jewish immigrant parents. She graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music, Te ...

Sarah Caldwell Sarah Caldwell (March 6, 1924March 23, 2006) was an American opera conducting, conductor, impresario, and stage director. Early life Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and ...

* Ann Krinitsky * J. Karla Lemon * Jadine Louie * Anne Manson * Marsha Mabrey * Kathleen McGuire * Frances Steiner

Recordings

*''Baroquen Treasures'' (

Newport Classic Newport Classic, Ltd, is a record label of classical music, founded by Larry Kraman, and is located in Newport, Rhode Island. In its catalog are recordings of both familiar and unusual works, including ''Casanova's Homecoming'', ''A Waterbird Talk ...

, 1990) * ''The Women's Philharmonic: Mendelssohn, Schumann'' (1993,

Koch International Classics Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

7169, reissued 2008) * ''Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts: Music by Elinor Armer, Text by Ursula K. Le Guin'' (1995, Koch International Classics) *''The Music of Chen Yi'' (1996, New Albion Records) *''The Music of Florence Price'' (2001, Koch International Classics 7518, reissued 2008)

Notes and references

External links

American Symphony Orchestra League
official website
Community Women's Orchestra
official website
Women's Philharmonic Advocacy
official website

partial list of The Women's Philharmonic repertoire
I Resound Press
digital scores {{DEFAULTSORT:Womens Philharmonic, The Disbanded American orchestras Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Women's orchestras Musical groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco 1981 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in California History of women in California