For centuries, classical music was mostly composed and performed by men. Luckily this has changed in the past decades. In our series, we are introducing the female composers of our publishing group. This time: Annette Schlünz.

Even as a 12-year-old, you attended a composing workshop for children in Halle. When did you first feel that you wanted to become a composer?
I wrote musical notes before I wrote letters. I was about 5 years old at that time and this was a way to express myself. The composing workshop enabled me to develop my composing skills and to conceive composition not only just as an inner need, but also as a profession. When I was 16, Hans J. Wenzel, the teacher of the workshop, and Dietrich Boekle, a guest lecturer from Darmstadt, encouraged me to study composition. I guess that one does not become a composer, one simply is.

Why are there still so many more male than female composers and conductors?
I think there are just as many girls who want to compose and conduct (I can see this in my composing classes in France and Germany), but there are many prejudices in society.  To truly become a professional, one needs encouragement, perseverance, and role models to imitate. Fortunately, their number is rising.

When did you experience this injustice in your own life as a female composer?
I can feel it when I look at concert programmes or publishers’ catalogues. I didn’t used to pay attention to it. Later, when I worked as a dramaturge at Dresdner Festival, I deliberately promoted interesting female artists. As a teacher I support male and female composers, but I do particularly encourage women.

Today it annoys me when I see festival programmes that consist almost exclusively of male colleagues; or when derogatory comments are made to female composers. Unfortunately, this is still a problem. I argue that being a composer is a matter of course.  

Is there a difference between music composed by a man and a woman?
You could also ask: is there a difference between music composed by an Englishman and a French man? Between homosexuals and heterosexuals? Between the old and the young? Thankfully, people are different – and so are composers, who also change throughout their own lives. So is there an explicit male or female way of composing? No!

You teach composition and you are a jury member for various international composing competitions. Would you say that the number of young women who want to become a composer is growing?
Maybe the number is not growing, because there always have been many who wanted to become composers, but didn’t do it for a variety of reasons. In the generation of 10 to 20 year-olds, there is an approximate balance between boys and girls, but I notice that there is a vast majority of male contestants in competitions.

To gain recognition as a female composer after university, to  develop endurance, to build a network, to promote yourself and to be accepted by artistic directors is a completely different story. Nevertheless, the musicians’ and orchestras’ acceptance is increasing, and that’s a good sign.

Recently, your orchestral work Flammenschrift – Welch Licht, kein Schatten had its premiere in Dessau. Please tell us more about that!
On November 5th and 6th the piece was premiered at Impuls-Festival by Anhaltische Philharmonie with Jan Pieter Fuhr as a speaker, conducted by three young conductors of the Dirigierwerkstatt (teacher: James Ross): Samy Moussa, Taepyeong Kwak and Felix Mildenberger. Festival director Hans Rotman commissioned it, just like he did in 2009 in the case of Weithin (in mögliche mitten), which was performed first by Anhaltinische Philharmonie, too.

There is, lately, a positive response from the orchestra concerning contemporary music, and a commitment to the construction of new percussion instruments. For me it’s important to work together with orchestras that do not specialize in contemporary music, because it makes me ask questions about technical feasibility and mediation. In Dessau, the answers have been very positive.

Furthermore, there will be two more performances conducted by Daniel Carlberg at “Staging on the Bauhaus” in December.

What are your projects for 2016?
2016 will be filled by work on my new opera Tre volti (a piece interwoven with Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinde), which was co-commissioned by Schwetzinger Festspiele 2017 in collaboration with Jeremias Schwarzer, poetess Ulrike Draesner, stage director Ingrid von Wantoch Rekowski, Concerto Köln, soloists of contemporary music and the singers Dietrich Henschel and Petra Hoffmann.

There will also be chamber music projects for France and Austria. I will also spend much time on teaching. Both things complement each other excellently. No chance for boredom!