Highlighting Women in Music Education
By: Emily Roes

Music education has followed the broader transition to becoming a female-dominated field since the late 1800s. While the roots of these trends reach far back to societies of bygone times, the current landscape in music education continues to expand with vibrancy as women step into previously male-dominated roles as professional educators and performers. In celebration of Women in History Month, it is timely to note the contributions of several women in particular:

Frances Elliot Clark (1860-1958) Nicknamed “Mother of the Conference,” France Elliot Clark was a choral teacher in Iowa and Michigan who championed the use of the phonograph (later, turntable or record player) in the music classroom. She became an authority in the field, presenting on the use of phonographs at the Wisconsin Teachers Association and Music Supervisors National Conference. Clark collaborated with the Victor Talking Machine Company and became the Director of the Education Division. Clark was influential in promoting and equipping administrators and teachers on integrating early recording technology into music classrooms to support young musicians’ appreciation of music. Today, listening to music of all genres is a standard experience in the music classroom.

Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) A musical tour de force, Nadia Boulanger is revered for her resounding influence on American composers of the 20th century including Phillip Glass, Elliot Carter, Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, and Astor Piazzolla, to name a few. Boulanger was the first woman to take the podium as first female conductor of the symphonic orchestras of Washington, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, among others. She performed as pianist and organist, including presenting world premiers by Copland and Stravinsky. As a teacher, Boulanger was regarded as a “tender tyrant” given her stern intensity, yet she is also esteemed for cultivating the discovery of the individual in each of her students. In her words, as quoted in The Gazette (October 27, 1979, p.95), “No teacher can train a pupil she does not fully understand. [...] pupils must always be taught to accept themselves, for the only part a teacher can play is to help whatever lies hidden within him come to light.”

Lucy Green (b. 1957) Dr. Lucy Green is a British Professor of Music Education at the University College London Institute of Education, UK. She is renowned for her work in studying and applying the ways popular musicians learn music and bringing those informal pathways (self-directed, aural, peer-led) to the music classroom. The results? A significant shift in student involvement in music education over time as intrinsic motivation and relevancy increased. Her research is the foundation for the Musical Futures Movement, a pedagogical approach now utilized around the world.

In this Women in History month, we note and celebrate the contributions of these women to the fields of music education and professional performance.

Emily Roes holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from East Carolina University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Houghton University. She is a registered teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and a certified PreK-12 music educator in Connecticut.