Keychange 50/50: committing to gender balance in the music industry

In its drive to promote diversity and equality in classical music, Chineke! has pledged its support for Keychange 50/50, a global initiative to empower women to transform the future of the music industry to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by 2022.

PRS Foundation launched Keychange 50/50 to encourage a gender balanced music industry world-wide through commissioning and programming. This occasion was celebrated with the release of a manifesto at the European Parliament in Brussels in November 2018 .

To celebrate the launch of phase two, an event was held on 21 June 2019 at the Swedish Embassy in London Two Chineke! Junior musicians, siblings Imaan and Jamaal Kashim, were invited to perform. They played two pieces by female composers, for which Imaan specially arranged and composed the violin parts as the pieces were originally for harp solo:

Au Bord Du Ruisseau, Henriette Renié

Two Guitars, Linda Wood

Other signatories to the Keychange 50/50 pledge include: MAEI, Barbican Centre, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BDI Music, Bella Union, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Bucks Music Group, Cicle ContraBaix, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Come Play With Me, Contemporary Music For All, Coventry City of Culture Trust, De Doelen, English National Opera, Exaudio Vocal Ensemble, FIMI, Gravy Records, Kings Place, Leeds College of Music, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Contemporary Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Mexican Summer, Musik i Syd, NMC Recordings, Opera North, Orchestras Live, Philharmonia Orchestra, Queen Margaret Union - University of Glasgow, Record Play, Red Grape Music, Riot Ensemble, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Society, Sage Gateshead, Sinfonia Viva, Sound And Music, Sunday Best, The Chineke! Foundation, The Third Orchestra, Tomorrow’s Warriors, Trinity Laban, T? Cerdd, Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, and Vara Concert Hall.

You can listen to former PRS Foundation CEO and Founder of Keychange, Vanessa Reed talking about the next phase on BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0006683(8mins 13sec in)

 Any music organisations interested in joining the pledge should contact Francine Gorman via  keychange@prsfoundation.com

Images by Vic Frankowsk