The Community Women's Orchestra (CWO), based in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, was founded by conductor Nan Washburn in 1985 as a community project adjunct to

The Women's Philharmonic 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, ...

(TWP), a now-defunct, professional orchestra. Part of CWO's original purpose was to explore orchestral music by

women composers Women composers of Western classical music are disproportionately absent from the music textbooks and concert programs that constitute the patriarchical Western canon, even though many women have composed music. The reasons for women's absence a ...

for TWP. Today, CWO is an independent and growing entity. It continues to focus on encouraging women in music, and includes at least one work by a woman composer on each of its programs. An assistant conductor is appointed annually in an effort to create more opportunities for women conductors, and Strings Attached – an entry-level ensemble – encourages the participation of women instrumentalists of varying abilities. In addition to its own concert season of three full concerts and a chamber music event, CWO appeared at four concerts at

Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is the concert hall component of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, California. The 2,743-seat hall was completed in 1980 at a cost of US$28 million to give the San Francisco ...

as guests of the

San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (SFGMC) is the world's first openly gay chorus, one of the world's largest male choruses and the group most often credited with creating the LGBT choral movement. The chorus was founded by gay music pioneer Jo ...

(SFGMC), 2005–2008. Also in 2008, the CWO toured to Miami, Florida, to perform at the quadrennial

GALA Choruses The Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses ("GALA Choruses") is an international association of LGBT choruses founded in 1982. In its inaugural performance 14 choruses performed together in September 1982 in San Francisco as part of the first Gay ...

Festival.

Women's music

The CWO has been responsible for numerous regional, national, and world premieres of works by women composers, including Juliette Folville and Dame

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended ...

. In its 25th season (2009–2010), the CWO commissioned and premiered three new works by composers Martha Stoddard,

Hilary Tann Hilary Tann (2 November 1947 – 8 February 2023) was a Welsh composer based in the United States. Career Born in Llwynypia, Glamorgan (Wales), Tann held degrees in music composition from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and Princeton Universit ...

, and Mary Watkins, and premiered a newly orchestrated work by June Bonacich. CWO was the first contemporary orchestra to play

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was known as Fanny Hensel after her marriage. Her compositions include a string quartet, a piano trio, a piano quartet, an or ...

's , when conductor

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 ...

was in the process of reconstructing the work.Se
"Letter from JoAnn Falletta"
, May 12, 2010 Dana Sadava was selected as CWO's new musical director for the 30th anniversary season. Sadava served as assistant conductor during the 2007–2008 season. Her recent engagements include

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. Festival origins, growth and development Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966 Tom Walsh, an avid o ...

, the Boulder Chamber Orchestra,

Pensacola Opera The Pensacola Opera is an American opera company located in Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia Co ...

Indianapolis Opera Indianapolis Opera is an opera company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the only professional opera company in Indiana, and it hosts a number of fully staged productions each season. The company is led by General Director David Craig Starke ...

, the new music ensemble Zero Blue, and Banff Opera as Theatre, where she was a faculty member of the opera training program. She has been featured in master classes with

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop (; born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor. She is the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimor ...

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

, and

Gustav Meier Gustav Meier (13 August 1929 – 26 May 2016) was a Swiss-born conductor and director of the Orchestra Conducting Program at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He was also Music Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orche ...

. Sadava has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. She subsequently studied conducting with Michael Morgan and Alasdair Neale at the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada ...

, and with

Kenneth Kiesler Kenneth Kiesler (born August 18, 1953) is an American symphony orchestra and opera conductor and mentor to conductors. Kiesler is conductor laureate of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra where he was music director from 1980 to 2000 and founder and d ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Recordings

The CWO appears on several recordings with the SFGMC, and in 2010 released its first self-produced CD, featuring commissioned works in honor of the orchestra's 25th anniversary.

Discography

*''Divas' Revenge: Opera & Broadway Our Way'' (SFGMC, November 2005) *''USS Metaphor'' (SFGMC DVD, May 2008) *''Creating Harmony: 30th Season Highlights and New World Waking'' (SFGMC double CD, December 2008) *''Women's Work and Play'' – 25th anniversary CD (August, 2010)

Conductors

*Nan Washburn, founder and conductor laureate, 1985–1990 *Ann Krinitsky, conductor laureate, 1990–2001 *Martha Stoddard, interim conductor, 2004–2005 *Dr. Kathleen McGuire, conductor laureate, 2005–2013 *Dana Sadava, conductor 2014–2020 *Martha Stoddard, conductor 2021

Assistant conductors

*Dana Sadava, 2007–2008 *

Jessica Bejarano Jessica Bejarano is the founder and conductor of the San Francisco Philharmonic. Bejarano was featured on NBC's The Today Show with Natalie Morales as the “Woman Breaking Barriers as a Trailblazing Symphony Conductor.” She has been featured ...

, 2009; 2012–2013 *Yuchi Chou, 2008–2010 *Sandra I. Noriega, 2010–2011 *Ellen Sanders, 2014–2015

Guest conductors

Sara Jobin Sara Jobin JOHBIHN(born October 26, 1970) is an American conductor. She is currently the principal conductor of the Center for Contemporary Opera. Early life and education Jobin was born in Norwood, Massachusetts, and grew up in various suburbs ...

, 1998 *

, 2013

Strings Attached (ensemble) conductors

*June Bonacich, 2010–2012 *Sandra I. Noriega, 2011–2014

Notes and references

{{authority control Musical groups established in 1985 Women's orchestras Orchestras based in California Musical groups from Oakland, California 1985 establishments in California History of women in California