Empower: Women Changing Music is an initiative dedicated to promoting fairness and gender equality within the classical music industry. Through a series of events taking place around International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month in March each year, female musicians, composers, and panel discussions make up the programme highlighting both the issues facing women in the industry, and celebrating women musicians and composers. We spoke to Hannah Seymour, the Co-Founder and Director of Empower to tell us more.
The idea for Empower first came about in late 2021 when music students Hannah Seymour and Sinéad Walsh were in their 4th and final year at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. For their final college assessment they had to undertake a creative project – a project which allows students to focus on their interests, develop their skills and build a portfolio. This can involve organising concerts, masterclasses and commissioning new works and workshops. Students also have the option to work with others on their project. Hannah and Sinéad decided to join forces and create the very first Empower: Women Changing Music event to shine the spotlight on an area they both feel passionate about.
Neither had experience of putting on this type of event but with the guidance and support of their university mentor, their impressive drive and ideas and through successfully bidding for an International Women’s Day grant from the Manchester Arts Council, their project now had the funding to hire a ‘proper’ music venue and become something much bigger than originally imagined. With 100 people attending their very first event, they knew they were onto something special and decided to repeat it the following year in 2023.
By this time both had moved to London to start their postgraduate studies, and so they decided to not just put on an event in Manchester, the birthplace of Empower, but also find a venue in London to expand to. Their determination paid off as they’d had caught the eye of the Artistic Director at Kings Place in Central London providing them with their venue in the capital. Kings Place embodies the ethos of Empower, as a music and arts venue that aspires to inspire the local community and promote the power of the arts. The venues within Kings Place enable learning, discovery, debate and experiences that create a connection between the audience and the artists.
The Empower events have grown year on year enabling the message to be amplified during the period in the year when women’s achievements and role in society is at the forefront of people’s minds thanks to IWD and Women’s History Month.  However, Hannah explained that they hope to be able to put on events throughout the year across the UK to keep the momentum going. This year Empower expanded into Dublin, and the plan for 2026 is that Empower events will also be held in Cardiff and Glasgow. They also hope to secure funding to start outreach work to engage and support young and upcoming women musicians and help them overcome barriers into the industry.
The events themselves are mainly attended by women, with few men attendees. However, Hannah would love to see more men at the events as they are open to everyone to watch, experience and enjoy music, have a drink and listen to the discussion around issues faced by women in the classical music industry.
With visibility stated as a major barrier in the industry and female musicians feeling unheard and not listened to, Empower: Women Changing Music provides a platform to both express and discuss these issues whilst also showcasing women musicians and composers. There are also concerns around the fact that many music jobs tend to be freelance which create barriers into employment for women, especially those with families due to a lack of maternity support and childcare availability around the hours worked by musicians. To add to this unequal pay and leave being unpaid often makes a career in music non-viable. There’s also misogyny in regard to the instruments played by women – some instruments continue to be viewed as ‘male’ meaning that female players may be overlooked for parts or discouraged from taking them up altogether. Through the Empower events it is hoped that a dialogue can be opened and awareness around these issues can be increased as well as allies being sought in men and non-musicians. The events also serve to increase the visibility of women musicians and composers as shockingly as only 7.5% of orchestral music played worldwide is written by women. (The Telegraph, 2024)
The next Empower: Women Changing Music event takes place at Kings Place in Kings Cross, London on Friday 21st March at 7pm. The evening will consist of four performances including a saxophone quartet, a string quartet and two trios. The Opus HER commissioned piece premiered in Dublin earlier in the month featuring Hannah on Oboe and Sinead on Flute, will also be taking centre stage. The panel discussion, typically an hour long with a fairly open brief to allow for lively discussion from different viewpoints will be formed by Errollyn Wallen CBE – Composer and Master of the Kings Music , Jess Gillam MBE – Saxophone Soloist and Presenter, Héloïse Werner – Soprano, Composer and Founding Member of the Hermes Experiment, and Dr. Leah Broad – Music Writer, Historian, and Author of ‘Quartet’. Following the panel’s discussion, there will be 15 minutes for audience questions. Hannah stresses that the vibe at the events is relaxed, positive and certainly not men hating and are a celebration of women and the changes needed in the industry.
To book tickets for the Kings Place event, click here. You can also catch Hannah and Sinéad at The Royal Albert Hall Classical Coffee Morning taking place on Sunday 11th March. More details can be found here.
Find out more about Empower by visiting their website http://www.empowerwomenchangingmusic.com
Maria Georgiou
Photograph credits: Empower
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