Music Director Diversity
In This SectionIn 2024, 86.7% of music directors were male, and 76.7% were White. Only modest overall progress was made during the decade 2014-2024: Black representation decreased, as did the representation of women music directors in larger budget orchestras.
2024 Snapshot
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2014-2024 Trends
The modest progress we see resulted mainly from the appointment of women MDs to smaller-to-medium orchestras, and of Asian MDs to larger budget orchestras. During the same time period, however, Black representation more than halved from 5% to 1.2%.
While women’s representation among music directors increased modestly overall (from 9% to 12.7%), it declined significantly within larger budget orchestras.
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information about how this data is analyzed, the value of the metric we present in measuring change, and the work underway by orchestras to improve diversity of representation.
More Resources
The following programs are working to increase the gender diversity of conductors in American orchestras.
In This Section
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