The Challenge
Women running Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. have just reached a record high of 11.6%. In 2024, women held only 27% of seats in national parliaments and 35.5% of seats in local governments; 107 countries have never had a woman Head of State. Only 10 percent of the world’s music directors are women, an orchestra’s top conducting job, barely up from 8.5 percent reported in 2006.
Only 10% of the world’s Music Directors are women.
The Response
In 1984, after hearing “girls can’t do that” and being rejected from conducting programs, Marin Alsop took her conducting career into her own hands and started a professional orchestra in New York City, the Concordia Orchestra. With the financial support of Tomio Taki, the Concordia Orchestra performed under the baton of Marin Alsop for 18 years. As Marin’s career took off and she began conducting around the world, Mr. Taki asked, “what about the other women conductors?” With Mr. Taki’s commitment to fostering talented women through active mentorship and Marin’s entrepreneurial spirit, the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship was created in 2002. In recognition of the historic achievements of its Founder and President, the Fellowship was renamed the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship (TACF) in 2019.
Over the past 23 years, the fellowship has provided intensive coaching, mentorship and financial support to women conductors as they progress in their careers. Today, all 36 award winners are working to ensure a more equitable future for classical music through their artistry and advocacy, and among them they hold 23 Music Director or chief conductor positions of orchestras around the world. They are mentoring the next generation of women conductors through the TACF Mentoring Program which has mentored 30 additional conductors. See more about the Mentoring program here.
It is a privilege to be in a position to impact the lives of aspiring women conductors. I can clearly see what is needed to assist emerging conductors in the pursuit of their dreams and want to make the road easier and more rewarding for them. I have never ascribed to the philosophy that, ‘It was tough for me so it will be tough for you.’ My philosophy is: ‘It was tough for me so that I could make it easier for you.’
About The Fellowship
Learn how to apply.
The Taki Fellowship is currently a two-year award that primarily includes intensive coaching and mentoring with Marin Alsop and other music industry professionals. The TACF honorarium for Fellows is $25,000 over the two years; other awards are distributed on a merit basis. Since 2003, thirty-six women conductors have been chosen to participate in the program. The TACF Mentoring Program was established in 2022 and has added 30 additional women conductors to the TACF.
Learn about our Staff, Board, Advisory Council, and Women Leadership Council.
Mentoring Program
In 2022, The Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, with generous support from AT&T and the She’s Connected by AT&T initiative, launched its Mentoring Program which has enabled the Fellowship to add 30 additional women conductors to the TACF community as Mentees. In addition to providing 10 free mentoring sessions with TACF alumni, expanding the TACF network of women conductors, and collecting research and data to create a mentoring model for the future.
L to R: Michelle Rofrano & Laura Jackson
About Marin Alsop
A trailblazer and glass ceiling breaker, Marin Alsop has achieved numerous firsts for female conductors:
- First woman to become:
- Music Director of a major American orchestra (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra),
- Brazilian orchestra (São Paulo Symphony Orchestra),
- Principal Conductor of a British orchestra (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) and,
- Chief Conductor of a Viennese orchestra (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra).
- In 2013 Marin was the first woman to conduct the Last night of the BBC Proms.
- She is the only conductor to receive the MacArthur Fellowship.
One of the foremost conductors of our time, Marin Alsop is a powerful and inspiring voice. Convinced that music has the power to change lives, she is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to programming and audience development, deep commitment to education, and championing of music’s importance in the world. The first woman to serve as the head of major orchestras in the United States, South America, Austria, and Great Britain, she is, as the New York Times put it, not only “a formidable musician and a powerful communicator” but also “a conductor with a vision.”
The 2024-25 season marks Alsop’s sixth as Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, which she leads at Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, as well as on recordings, broadcasts, and international tours; her second as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony; her second as Principal Guest Conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra; and her first as Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She is also Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival, where she leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual summer residencies, and is the first Music Director of the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) at the University of Maryland, where she launched a new academy for young conductors and leads the NOI+F Philharmonic each June.
Alsop becomes the first U.S.-born woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic when she makes her long-awaited debut with the orchestra in February 2025, leading the world premiere of a new commission from Outi Tarkiainen. Other 2024-25 highlights include an evening devoted to Gustav and Alma Mahler with the Philharmonia Orchestra, a world premiere from Nico Muhly with the New York Philharmonic, a New Year’s Eve concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra, a reprise of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and return engagements with the symphonies of Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, and San Francisco.
For Marin’s full biography, please go to her website here.
