This month’s instalment in my Women’s Orchestras Series explores Mexico’s first all-female orchestra, Mujeres del Nuevo Milenio (Women of the New Millennium), founded in 2003.
The musical field in Mexico was significantly dominated by men, with less than a third of musicians in 400 youth and professional orchestras women. Many directors were reluctant to accept female musicians and women held themselves back from entering a man’s world. Violinist Carla Quitarte reported that it was very difficult to make it into an important orchestra, particularly for women, and even if one did, orchestral positions failed to provide sufficient income to live on.
As such, Women of the New Millennium was founded to fill a vacuum for women to perform and develop their skills. Orchestra director, Maria Eugenia Enriquez admitted that it hadn’t been easy to find female musicians who played certain instruments as well as, or better than, their male colleagues. This is possibly due to the fact that women may not have felt the need to perfect the technique, feeling that they were limited in a male dominated scene. Despite this, the orchestra grew with female musicians of the highest talent, also furthering opportunities for female composers by mainly performing pieces by women.
At the time, it was reported that the orchestra’s future depended on the public’s response and the orchestra’s ability to attain private and public funding. Despite the social benefits of the orchestra, it would be expensive to sustain, especially with limited public interest in high-brow music. There have been no reports since so it hasn’t been possible to determine whether the orchestra still continues or not, however it is certainly not the last all-female orchestra in Mexico to develop.
The Viento Florida Philharmonic Band, featuring 40 indigenous Mixe women was founded in 2011 in Oaxaca, Mexico, by Leticia Gallardo, after continued battles with men against forming the band. Violence is a constant threat to women in their region but this still would not deter them. They performed Canción Sin Miedo (Song Without Fear), the unofficial hymn of the feminist movement in Mexico, and in their version they also added sung names of Mixe victims of femicide, standing together with their sisters and showing that they were not afraid. The band have further shown their strength and resilience by lasting longer than their predecessor and continuing to perform and make a difference to women’s lives today.
It is unclear whether Women of the New Millenium inspired the formation of the Viento Florida Philharmonic Band, or whether both were just consequences of a patriarchal musical world, but whatever the reason, it is clear both orchestras provided valuable opportunities, not only for women to thrive in the music world, but also to share in the solidarity and hope that together women can do anything.
If you’re enjoying these blogs please feel free to get in touch to ask more about women’s orchestras or request my full dissertation to read.
References:
Cevallos, Diego (2003). ‘Mexico’s First Women’s Orchestra’, IPS News. Available at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2003/07/arts-weekly-music-mexicos-first-womens-orchestra/ (Accessed: 13th July 2023).
MND Staff (2022). ‘Through music, women’s orchestra takes on gender inequality’, Mexico News Daily. Available at: https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/through-music-womens-orchestra-takes-on-gender-inequality/ (Accessed: 13th July 2023).
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