The story so far
Our commitment to positively addressing inequality in conducting dates back several years, and we are proud of the progress we’ve collectively made so far.
In 2013, Marin Alsop became the first woman ever to conduct the Last Night of the Proms (in its 120th year). On that occasion, she remarked that she looked forward to a time when there would be no more firsts for women. British conductor Alice Farnham was inspired to take action.
With Andrea Brown, then Director of Music at Morley College in London, Alice co-founded a series of workshops giving women the chance to try their hand at conducting, who may not otherwise have got the opportunity. While Morley presented the initial sessions amid their busy schedule of creative workshops, it was clear the initiative would benefit from greater support and a broader national scope. In 2016, the initiative found a new home at the Royal Philharmonic Society. Entitled RPS Women Conductors (or affectionally ‘WoCo’ for short), the range of opportunities offered on the programme significantly increased, and its profile too, through our committed advocacy for its worth.
Since then, over 500 people have taken part, from beginners taking their very first steps, to early-career professionals keen to amass experience, to working musicians for whom conducting is one element of their musical life they want to strengthen. Courses have taken place across England, Scotland and Wales. Alongside Alice, courses have been coached by such conductors as Sian Edwards, Jane Glover, Jessica Cottis, Claire Gibault, Julia Jones, Rebecca Miller, Natalie Murray Beale, Andrea Quinn and Sarah Tenant-Flowers. Alice has also taken the principles established in WoCo to fuel similar initiatives in Ireland, Europe and Australia.
All our courses have involved some live musicians so participants get invaluable practical experience, and select courses have include coaching on posture, stagecraft and making an impression from expert Alma Sheehan, as well as insightful talks from women excelling in other professions. In addition to the courses, we have facilitated social networking opportunities for participants and mentors, and provided bespoke guidance and introductions to individuals, aiming to empower all involved to make continued progress.
In his prior role running the orchestra Southbank Sinfonia, RPS Chief Executive James Murphy rallied colleagues to address the issue in a headline speech to the Association of British Orchestras. James and the RPS team remain committed to promoting discourse and action across the classical music sector to contend the gender imbalance yet facing women conductors.
In 2018, we presented a particularly ambitious course: a five-day immersive course on conducting opera in collaboration with the Royal Opera House and National Opera Studio which brought together 12 participants and 13 observers from a range of backgrounds and abilities, many of whom called it a life-changing experience. Further courses with ROH and NOS followed.
The pandemic - and startlingly limited funding for initiatives like this - then slowed our momentum. Nonetheless, from 2022 we established a new high-level course with Royal Northern Sinfonia, the orchestra of The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead, designed to give a cohort of outstanding individuals on the threshold of their careers dedicated time to further their skills with a full professional orchestra, and year-round receive support and guidance from Alice and from the RPS team on attaining professional opportunities.
In 2023, Faber published Alice's book In Good Hands: The Making of A Modern Conductor which accounts her life in conducting so far, including all her endeavours to change the game for women conductors, and uniquely draws on the insights and testimonies of a host of other renowned conductors worldwide.
In 2024, with support from trust funds, we ran further short courses for upcoming talents in Cardiff and London, widening the frame for participants to include trans and non-binary conductors. In 2025, proud of our progress but with some distance yet to go towards equality, the programme continues under the new name RPS Conductors. While the opportunities we present remain primarily for women, trans and non-binary conductors, we now welcome applications from any conductors at a sufficiently high level who can articulate how such experience has not yet been afforded them and why it would duly be transformative to their prospects. Also in 2025, we invited colleagues from across the classical music profession at the Association of British Orchestras Conference to take a ringside seat onstage and see our Royal Northern Sinfonia partnership and its brilliant participants in action.
We keep seeking greater financial support and creative partnership to run the programme. With the help of a kind anonymous donor, we look forward later in 2025 to announcing two new shorter courses set to take place in 2026 not yet at the high-level required for the Gateshead course but nonetheless keen to build their confidence, experience and skills. Follow our social media and revisit our website for further news in due course.
Numerous participants are now establishing careers as conductors, such as Olivia Clarke who had never considered conducting till she took part in an RPS course and was consequently appointed as the Mackerras Conducting Fellow at English National Opera; Lada Valesova, Karin Hendrickson and Charlotte Corderoy each proceeded to conduct mainstage productions at Opera Holland Park, and Charlotte has also conducted the ENO and British Youth Opera, as well as being appointed Assistant Conductor at the CBSO alongside Rita Castro Blanco; Helen Harrison has conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in Friday Night is Music Night for BBC Radio 3; and Tess Jackson has conducted the Philharmonia, and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in two consecutive years at the BBC Proms.
This short film captures some of action from the short course we presented in London in 2024:
Here are what some participants have said about the experience:
‘At the end of my first RPS course, I said I have to do this. With a month I had a job conducting a local choral society and started my own student opera company. Within a year I was embarking on a Masters in Conducting in Berlin… now I’ve made my debut conducting English National Opera and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.’ Olivia Clarke
‘Thank you for the incredible privilege of being involved in the RPS programme. It’s been a life-changing experience. I’m now freelancing regularly across Europe, and even South America and China, and I have to say, it was the time with the RPS and Royal Northern Sinfonia – more than anything else in my educational formation – that gave me the confidence to know I can do this.’ Hannah von Wiehler
‘Getting practical experience in front of professional players is extremely expensive and difficult. Having this opportunity through the RPS, and getting feedback from the players and Alice Farnham, is so valuable. Alice always create an atmosphere of being able to try things out, experiment, and see what works (and as importantly, what doesn’t!). The whole course was a very positive experience.’ Olivia Shotton
‘For me, this course was invaluable. It has filled me with a new level of self-confidence and I have already seen positive results in my working life.’ Becky Chalmers
‘The course was an incredibly empowering experience and I truly felt myself fundamentally changed by the end.’ Caroline Jaya-Ratnam
‘I came away from the workshop with new techniques, ideas and more confidence. I rediscovered the enjoyment of learning something new – of reaching out of my comfort zone.’ Kirsty Devaney