Music, Voice, Message
People who identify as women
WSF is an online forum devoted to women’s voices in song, to the many songs by women, and to the many female musicians working in and with song, who have yet to be given the attention they deserve. The Women’s Song Forum provides an opportunity to expand and enhance knowledge and understanding of this rich and significant area of musical practice and scholarship, and – as the name “forum” suggests – aims to encourage discussion and debate across different interest groups. The forum aims to highlight compositions and performances of music that deserve more recognition.
At the heart of the forum is our commitment to diverse approaches and subjects and access by a wide-ranging audience. We normally publish 2-3 posts each month by members of our team and guest bloggers.
Jovana Backović’s haunting music for Ophelia in a production of Hamlet spurred this conversation about her influences and artistic goals.
To commemorate the writings of W. E. B. Du Bois, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor turned to an unexpected source, Christina Rossetti, setting six of her poems for his Six Sorrow Songs.
Women’s covers of Rolling Stones’ songs demonstrate the practice of singers covering a previous cover rather than the original version of a song.
Translations and cover songs raise many of the same questions. This post (and playlist) looks at how young women transformed Beatles songs on their debut albums.
By 1913 the “indecency” of modern popular songs could no longer be ignored. Members of the National Federation of Music Clubs tried to fight back.
From accounts of individual women or performances to historical essays, from interviews with songwriters and performers to discussions of gender, race and culture in and through song.
