Archives are places of collective memory of a society. Searching generally known
archives and libraries for traces of female composers and musicians, however, can
be a taxing process indeed and findings are often the result of coincidence. But
there are many female composers, conductors and musicians, from Hildegard von
Bingen via Francesca Caccini, Clara Schumann to the many women composers of
today, The Archive Women and Music closes the gap in the historic annals. It was
established in 1978 by the International Work Study Group Women and Music and is
the oldest and most comprehensive archive of its type worldwide. Keynote is the
collection and presentation of the compositional work of women, particularly in
the field of classical music. It now contains more than 15,000 media units (books,
notes, sound carriers).
The highlights of our activities:
The Archive Women and Music is available to the public as
- musical and scientific library
- mediator between research, teaching and musical practice
- initiator of events and projects
- publisher of the professional journal VivaVoce.