Tessa Larson

MUS 685 History of Opera

Final Research Essay
November 30, 2020

The Lack of Women Composers in Opera and the Systems That Keep It That Way
An Analysis Illustrated by The Life and Career of Libby Larsen

“A need to be heard, a compulsion to communicate”1: This is how Libby Larsen

describes her life. Beginning at a young age she was told to be quiet, incentivized with the

promise of gifts and toys in exchange for her silence2. This insistence of silence that her parents,

teachers, and society placed upon her affected the way that she interacted with the world for the

rest of her life. At a very young age, it became clear to Libby Larsen that her parents and the

world around her didn’t want her to be heard, so she decided “I’ll go find my own system to

communicate”3 and she did. Libby Larsen became one of the most prolific composers of the late

20th and early 21st centuries. She has found success and renown in nearly every compositional

field of the classical genre4, however, one of the only fields where her compositions are rarely

performed is opera. Although she has written 11 operas, none have been performed widely

across the United States besides a few performances at regional houses and schools. The

discrimination that she has faced throughout her career is systemic in music education and the

professional music industry, and it is most apparent in the world of opera5. This essay will

1
Denise Von Glahn, “Larsen and Family Needing to Be Heard,” in Libby Larsen: Composing an American
Life (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017), pp. 10
2
Glahn, “Needing to be Heard” 10
3
Ibid., 11
4
Libby Larsen, “Libby.,” Libby Larsen, last modified 2020, accessed November 16, 2020,
https://libbylarsen.com/about.
5
Laura Sullivan, “'I Am Woman' -- Libby Larsen,” Penn State University, last modified September 19, 2018,
accessed November 16, 2020, https://news.psu.edu/story/537077/2018/09/19/arts-and-entertainment/i-am-woman-
libby-larsen.
 2

discuss the systematic barriers that women composers face particularly in the field of opera,

using Libby Larsen’s life and career to illustrate how the family unit, religion, early education,

academia, and the economic and political systems of the opera industry stunted her career and

the careers of countless women composers.

Larsen’s Compositional Excellence

The assertion that Larsen's operatic career has been significantly hampered by systematic

barriers and she is thus the ideal example to illustrate the argument of this essay is predicated on

the communal understanding that she is an exceptional composer. Other than her achievements

in symphonic compositions, chamber music, choral, art song, and solo instrumental works, there

are evident disparities in how a piece is packaged and how it is received. One of the most evident

examples of the disparity between her success in opera and song, or other genres lies in Larsen’s

opera Eric Hermannson’s Soul (Figure A)6 and her song set Margaret Songs7 (Figure B).

Margaret Songs is a set of three songs that are advertised as art songs despite their appearance as

arias in the opera Eric Hermannson’s Soul before their stand-alone publication. “So Little

There”8, the second of the set is a direct quote of Margaret’s aria in the first act, and the other

two are found largely in Margaret’s parts, but also in the chorus and the music of other

characters. Although this opera has only been performed a few times by regional opera

companies, and schools, the songs that are derived from this piece are widely performed9.

6
Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul Opera in two acts, libretto by Chas Rader-Shiber, (New York, NY: Oxford
University Press: 1998)
7
Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, libretto by Willa Cather, (New York: Oxford University Press: 1998)
8
Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, “So Little There” libretto by Willa Cather, (New York: Oxford University Press:
1998)
9
“Eric Hermannson's Soul,” Libby Larsen, last modified 2020, accessed November 16, 2020,
https://libbylarsen.com/works/eric-hermannsons-soul/.
 3

Margaret Songs have been professionally recorded, while no published recordings of the entire

opera exist.

Figure A: Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul, “Scene One: The Visitors/ The

Conversation”10

10
Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul Opera in two acts, libretto by Chas Rader-Shiber, (New York, NY: Oxford
University Press: 1998) 36
 4

Figure B: Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, “So Little there”11

“So little there” in Margaret's songs is nearly an exact copy of Margaret’s aria from Eric

Hermannson’s soul, even the piano reduction in the vocal score for the opera was directly

translated to the song cycle. The only real difference in this piece is a brief interjection from

Margaret’s brother once in the very beginning and once a few bars later.

Although it is not uncommon for an aria to be remarkable in an otherwise unremarkable

opera, and for that aria to become a part of the cannon repertoire without the opera following

suit, this does not seem to be the case with this opera. Particularly because aria is only sold when

packaged as an art song. If a singer were to offer this as a part of their aria package to an audition

committee, they would likely be corrected that all three of these are songs, not arias, therefore,

do not belong in an aria package. This is because of the publication of the set of songs and the

minimal knowledge of the opera.

Larsen chooses her stories carefully, and largely she tells the stories of women, by

women, in a field where the male perspective is almost always the lens through which the

audience sees women. Eric Hermannson’s Soul and Margaret Songs are no exception to this

rule. It received overall positive reviews upon its premiere, however, it is handling of regional

themes and telling the story that fits neither the exotic nor extravagant sensitivities of the opera

community has likely limited this productions renown12.

11
Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, “So Little There” libretto by Willa Cather, (New York: Oxford University Press:
1998)

12
William Littler, “The Toronto Star: ONE Festival Review,” Opera Omaha | The Toronto Star: ONE Festival Review,
last modified 2017, accessed November 16, 2020, https://www.operaomaha.org/about-us/news-press/the-
toronto-star-one-festival-review.
 5

Figure C: Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul, “Prologue”13

Unlike “So Little There”, “Bright Rails” appears in the prologue of Eric Hermannson’s

Soul multiple times in multiple different voices. The prologue (Figure C)14 is a perfect example

of this opera’s beautiful simplicity in moments that get to the heart of the story that she has

chosen to tell. It’s translation into Margaret Songs (Figure D)15 simplifies the piece further than

in the context of the opera as a whole where it sets the scene of the plains as the backdrop for the

rest of the story to be told with a much more complex musical language16. As she realized early

in her career, she always wanted to write music that meant something to her audience, so her line

and the musical language is always enough to convey her story or message without

overburdening her message with the mechanics of composition17.

13
Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul Opera in two acts, libretto by Chas Rader-Shiber, (New York, NY: Oxford
University Press: 1998) mm. 241-244
14
Libby Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul Opera in two acts, libretto by Chas Rader-Shiber, (New York, NY: Oxford
University Press: 1998) mm. 241-244
15
Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, “Bright Rails” libretto by Willa Cather, (New York: Oxford University Press: 1998)
16
Larsen, Eric Hermannson’s Soul
17
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 115
 6

Figure D: Libby Larsen, Margaret Songs, “Bright Rails”

Larsen’s early years: Family

Libby Larsen was born in Wilmington Delaware on December 24th, 1950. Larsen

describes the 1950’s as a very formative decade in her life18. While it is true of everyone that the

first 10 years of one’s life have a large impact on the person one becomes, she has a slightly

different take on it. To Larsen, this was the beginning of a trend that continued in one way or

another throughout her entire life. In her biography she describes a scene that shaped her view on

being heard and communication for the rest of her life;

“I tried so hard [to stay silent at meal times], probably for two days, but it felt like the rest of my life, and

finally I just burst out and said “I can’t do it,”… and I realized then that they didn't Want to communicate. They

actually didn’t want to communicate with me… I just thought at that point well screw it. I’ll go find my own system

18
Mary Ann Feldman, “Larsen [Reece], Libby,” Grove Music Online, accessed November 16, 2020,
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-
9781561592630-e-0000042676.
 7

to communicate. And they haven’t changed at all. And that was really mean… it was like asking an elephant to

stand on toe”19

This atmosphere in her family made her feel silenced as a very young girl, and that

shaped the way that she communicates with the world around her. Like many young girls she

was taught to be seen and not heard and that is a sentiment that carried with her well into her

adult life20.

The term “seen and not heard” are not out of place when talking about both children and

women, especially in the middle of the 20th century when Larsen was growing up21. However,

this experience is certainly not unique to Ms. Larsen. It is a practice that is endorsed by society,

education, religion, and the family unit. Denise Von Glahn says in Libby Larsen’s biography

“Larsen understands that the family system, a reflection of American society, was stacked

against strong women of any age who acknowledged, pursued, or insisted upon their

ambitions.”22 This system that is stacked against women from such an early age, to this day it

reminds young girls of the place in society that they are expected to fill, and the ripple effects of

this are felt throughout the professional world. With significantly fewer women than men

holding positions in management, STEM, political office, and composition it is clear that this

idea of seen and not heard proves very difficult for many women to shake23. This mantra also

equates women and children, since it is nearly equally applied to both.24

19
Glahn, “Needing to be Heard” 11
20
Ibid., 12
21
Ibid., 13
22
Ibid., 13
23
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
24
Glahn, “Needing to be Heard” 13
 8

Larsen’s Early Education: Introduction to music that sets Larsen apart

By the time Libby Larsen was old enough to attend school, her family had relocated to

Minnesota where she would remain to this day. Larsen was considered a very “kinetic” child,

both at home and at school. She recalls being restrained in her crib with towels at home and

feeling nailed to the floor of her classroom due to the nature of the old-fashioned desks that were

fixed in rows25. Her kinetic nature was constantly getting her in trouble in school and she could

barely contain herself and her many thoughts that urged her to burst out in her 8 years at Christ

the King school. Although she learned many valuable things in her early years in school, and she

attributed her early interest in music, and composition to her teachers at this school, despite the

constant pressure to remain silent and still while there, both of which are completely against her

nature26.

As she settled in in school and society, she learned to love her time at Christ the King in

particular. Looking back, she feels blessed that she attended the school that she did since it was

there where she was first introduced to writing music. “I think the great luck in my life was that I

learned to write music in 1st grade… because I could speak! So, once I learned how to write music, and

there wasn’t the idea that only composers do this, this is a way of expressing yourself, it was brilliant.” 27

Although she felt recognized the silent protocol of the catholic church, she felt the nuns

that taught at her school were truly there for each student and so she was able to flourish, despite

some of the more restrictive policies of the school and church as a whole. The nuns at Christ the

King seemed to be called there to nourish every individual student and for Larsen, she found

success in the early introduction of music. There was a curriculum that valued music and art

25
Ibid., 16
26
Ibid., 17
27
Ibid., 17
 9

evenly with language and math, this equilibrium is found today in very few schools and is

credited by Larsen as one of the reasons she has been able to train in composition and succeed in

the professional music world28.

Access to education is an indicator worldwide for a future opportunity for children. If

science and math education is limited for student’s, they are less likely to go into STEM fields29,

a student who has limited access to books as a child is less likely to become a writer, so it must

follow that a student who is not introduced to music as a child is less likely to become a musician

of any kind. Likewise, most people are not introduced to reading music unless they play an

instrument.30 When Larsen was allowed to learn to read music, she took it and built upon these

early skills over the rest of her life31. Unfortunately, very few young people are allowed to learn

about music until high school at the earliest. This overall lack of access to music education is a

major barrier to many potential musicians, however, even in middle and high schools that have

strong choral or instrumental programs, music theory classes are often hard to come by. Beyond

that, in today's world of composition and academia, it is required of a student to be able to use

music technology, which as Larsen argues in her interview with Penn State News,

“These exams favor students who are trained on orchestral instruments—and these days
are also trained in technology …. So quite often a terribly gifted young composer,
female, who has been able to find her compositional voice through performance art or
song, is excluded from study in college by dint of the entrance exam. The problem is
exacerbated by the world fact of male-designed and -dominated technology. It’s
becoming a well-known fact that in school girls are encouraged to defer their learning
time on technology to boys, and boys are generally hogging the school computers
nationwide. Ergo girls find other outlets, ergo they form only a small part of the
technological pool of student composer candidates.”32

28
Ibid., 18
29
Kelsey Hand, “The Issues: Why STEM Education Must Begin in Early Childhood Education,” University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, last modified 2017, accessed November 16, 2020, https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/issues-why-
stem-education-must-begin-early-childhood-education.
30
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
31
Glahn, “Needing to be Heard” 17
32
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
 10

As Larsen progressed through school, she found music to be a necessary part of her

vernacular. Although her teachers after first grade were not fluent in music like her first teacher,

Libby was able to find her musical release in the practice of Gregorian chant during mass at her

catholic school33. This chant allowed her to practice her skills in singing, sight-reading, and it

was an outlet for her that she did not have for the rest of her life. It was a time to let her voice

out, a time to be heard. Learning the piano was yet another formative musical experience for

Larsen. Although her family did not allow their daughters to start piano lessons until they were

seven years old, Larsen distinctly remembers watching her sister practice and proceeding to

“dabble” at the piano while her mother cooked dinner and before her father was home34. This

multitude of musical experiences made for an exceptionally well-primed young woman to

venture into the world of music.

As Larsen progressed through her education, she began to notice disparities between her

education and that of her male colleagues. In high school, she sought opportunities to play

organized sports, unfortunately, Title IX had not yet been passed and her school had no

obligation to provide her with equal opportunities as the young men at her school35. Upon

entering academia disparities in educational practices became even more evident to her. As

Denise Von Glan explains Ms. Larson's views on academia “As (Libby) sees it, rituals and

ranking systems endemic to academia had been passed down from the medieval church and

reinforced by the military, places with little room for women in the front lines.”36 Luckily,

33
Glahn, “Needing to be Heard” 18-19
34
Ibid., 19
35
Denise Von Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years 'My Soul Was Shaking,'" in Libby Larsen: Composing an
American Life (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017), pp. 99-117
36
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 100
 11

Larsen was not deterred by the distinct challenges that she faced during her education due largely

to her deep roots in music as a system of communicating. Larsen says that she “never felt

vulnerable composing”37 which likely aided her through many trials in both academia and her

professional career.

Academia: Growth Despite Discouragement

In 1968 Larsen began her education at the University of Minnesota, a school only 4 miles

from her family home that also happened to feature composition faculty including Dominik

Argento, Paul Fetler, and Eric Stokes38. Upon entering the University of Minnesota, she was

discouraged from entering the economics school and instead directed to the school of music, so,

she began her career in academia in the BA voice track39. After only a year of freshman music

theory her voice professor suggested that she write her songs for her end of year juries, a task

that she gladly took on, although she still thought of herself as a singer and not as a composer40.

Because of this mindset, she felt that to be a singer she would have to go to New York. In her

sophomore year, she traveled to Julliard, Mannes, and Oberlin to audition for their voice

programs at which she found that she most enjoyed the theory entrance exams41. Despite getting

in at Mannes, it was her Oberlin audition that changed the course of her career and the rest of her

life. Although the audition committee said that she had a fine voice, Larsen was confronted with

the admission of the audition committee that “no students who come here have these kinds of

analysis skills. Don’t you think you should be thinking about that?”42. Although this was a

crushing blow to her dreams of becoming an opera star at the MET, these words bounced around

37
Ibid., 101
38
Feldman, “Larsen [Reece], Libby,”
39
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 104
40
Ibid., 104
41
Ibid., 105
42
Ibid., 106
 12

in her head and eventually led her to composition. After returning to the University of Minnesota

she was cast as Laetitia in a production of The Old Maid and the Thief, however, this production

proved to be yet another discouragement for her to pursue opera because the director felt that her

energy and “the very essence of who she is just gets in the way of being a singer. The very thing

that makes her the great composer that she is, that sort of drive… it can destroy singing

careers.”43 After facing over a year of what seemed to be a no at every turn, she found herself in

the composition department. As she describes her experience early in her time in the composition

field and her time observing composers in these years, “I was young, and female, and in 1971

there was never a thought that I was a composer. I was just a young woman hanging around.”44

Larsen found herself “sleepwalking” her way through the rest of her undergraduate

degree, but she also had the opportunity in both communications and music classes to practice

“[exercises] in dealing with post-traumatic stress” stemming from a childhood of being

silenced45. After graduating with her BA, she quickly realized that she needed to compose and

proceeded to apply for graduate school again at the University of Minnesota. Larsen was not

welcomed in by the composition faculty and she quickly realized that everything from her

presence and personality to her compositional style and rationale was entirely at odds with

academia at the time, particularly the culture of the composition department46. As Larsen states

in an interview with Penn State News “I had the most trouble with discrimination and

stereotyping while I was in school …. I found that being a living woman composer in the

academy often (and still does) put me in the position of the specimen.”47

43
Ibid 106
44
Ibid., 108
45
Ibid., 108
46
Ibid., 109-111
47
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
 13

In 1958 Milton Babbitt argued that “composers were specialists writing for other

specialists”48 and although this pedagogy was ever-present in academia at the time Larsen's

pedagogy was the same as her childhood approach to music, music is a conduit to communicate

and to understand49. This alone made her mentors at the University of Minnesota hesitant; her

gender only made this division between her and the rest of the department more evident.

Despite these challenges, Larsen’s master’s degree allowed her to hone her natural

talents. She showed finesse in both her early vocal and instrumental works in her early years as

she drew inspiration from her mentors from childhood and composers like Stravinsky and

Bartók. As Larsen’s compositional style became more defined as she sought to “create a feeling

of seamless melody”50 she found herself criticized for this music since her role models at the

university “placed value judgments on, the compositional process, according to who was playing

and hearing the music”51. This perspective along with the unwillingness of her mentors to

acknowledge her talents as a composer was clearly articulated many times for example when a

professor refused to accept that she had turned in her composition for an assignment because it

was too good52. Luckily, Larsen was allowed to compose her first opera as her master's thesis.

Her one-act opera was produced by the university opera at the behest of the opera director who

only a few years earlier had discouraged her from pursuing opera performance and suggested

that she instead invest her time in a career in composition. Despite this opera being a relative

success upon its opening, the run was shut down early in the summer of 1974 due to a cease and

desist order being served to Larsen from E.B. White for her having stolen the story of Charlottes

48
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 111
49
Glahn, “Needing to be heard” 11
50
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 112
51
Ibid., 114
52
Ibid., 122
 14

Web. Although this was certainly a blow to her confidence and the legal challenge has stopped

Some Pig from being performed ever again, the opera was still considered a success53.

In 1977 Larsen was once again given the opportunity by the University of Minnesota to

write a one-act opera, this time working closely with an accomplished composer and advisor

Dominik Argento. She acknowledges learning a lot about orchestration from Argento, and her

music clearly shows that “her ability to synthesize multiple styles are directly linked to her work

with Argento.”54 After correctly securing the rights for the story to avoid a repeat of her master’s

thesis, she got to composing. Although the piece was once again relatively successful, the opera

has never been performed since. It was incredibly ambitious of her to compose operas for both of

her theses she had a natural inclination for opera and her aptitude for both instrumental and vocal

composition made her more than capable. She was also encouraged by the immense community

that surrounded her in the Twin Cities. The theater and opera culture that was alive in the region

at the time, and frankly still is, was a very supportive force55.

The Music Industry: Where Does the Money Go?

Community support, natural talents, accomplished teachers, both vocal and instrumental

inclinations, and now decades of her own experience and renown throughout the composition

community have still not afforded her significant success in the field of opera. Since receiving

her DMA Larsen has composed and published 11 more operas56, most of which were relatively

successful. However, not all have received repeat performances, and none have been performed

at the most prestigious opera houses in the United States.

53
Ibid., 121
54
Ibid., 123
55
“The Arts Are Important to Minnesota,” Minnesota State Arts Board, accessed November 16, 2020,
http://www.arts.state.mn.us/about/facts.htm.
56
Larsen, “Libby.,”
 15

Although there have been women composers since the medieval period and through

every musical era since, Ernest Newman argued that “There have been no great women

composers… as late as 1910, because they have no opportunity, no patronage, no support”57.

This is certainly a disputable argument as names from Clara Schumann, Chaminade, and Fanny

Mendelssohn to Hildegard Von Bingen come to mind as “great women composers”. One thing

does stand out about this brief list of women composers and the many more that are not included

here, almost none of them composed operas, at least operas that were produced and published.

Although Larsen is an exception to this rule for earlier women composers, her success in

the field has been limited. Larsen agrees with Christine Ammer and many others that beyond

access to education and support through academia, a composer needs “champions of their

work”58. This is historically a very challenging thing for women, from the stigma around a

successful businessman or conductor spending significant time with a woman artist to the more

contemporary challenges women often face of not being taken seriously by men in power.

Larsen has ample stories of not receiving due credit or acclaim from her work or simply being

brushed aside by her contemporaries, professors, and others in the field, due solely to her

gender59.

Who then decides what gets performed? What is standing in her way and in the way of so

many women composers? The long and the short of it comes down to money60. To produce a

chamber work each member of the ensemble needs to be paid, the venue, and the conductor if

there is one. Symphonies are orders of magnitude more expensive to produce, with many more

players, likely a bigger venue, conductor, staff, and many more expenses. However, producing

57
Christine Ammer, Unsung: a History of Women in American Music (United States: Christine Ammer, 2016), 92.
58
Ammer, Unsung, 92
59
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
60
Daniel Kessler, Sarah Caldwell: The First Woman of Opera (Scarecrow Press Incorporated, 2008).31-37
 16

an opera is nearly always defined by massive expenses that surpass the costs of producing any

other genre within the classical field. Audiences and donors fund arts organizations in the united

states, and without the interest and support from those two groups61 even the Metropolitan Opera

(MET) which is the largest arts organization in the United States, does not have the funds to

commission many operas by new composers of any kind. Although symphonies are in the same

financial position it is clear that audiences and donors in this field are more open to new

compositions by composers of all kinds. Since 2006 the MET has only commissioned or

performed six new operas62, meanwhile, the New York Philharmonic commissioned nineteen

works by nineteen different women composers in their 2019-2020 season alone63. Although this

disparity could be partially accounted for by the sheer cost difference between the two

production budgets, there is also something to be said for the inclinations of the audiences.

Conclusion

Larsen has had success in her career that her teachers and the students that she went to

school with never could have anticipated, and never would have in their haste to dismiss her64.

Larsen says it is hard for her to decide “which of the many systems she encountered was most

treacherous: the family, the church, the government, or the academy.”65 Luckily for musicians

and music lovers today she was able to successfully overcome all of these barriers in her climb to

a career in composition. Her accomplishments range from her appointment as the first woman

61
Kessler, Sarah Caldwell 31-37
62
Michael Cooper, “The Met Is Creating New Operas (Including Its First by Women),” The New York Times (The
New York Times, September 23, 2018), last modified September 23, 2018, accessed November 16, 2020,
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/23/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-bam-public-theater-women.html.
63
“What's New: Latest News and Stories About The New York Philharmonic; Project 19 Returns, Online,” New York
Philharmonic, last modified 2020, accessed November 16, 2020, https://nyphil.org/whats-new.

64
Sullivan, “'I Am Woman'”
65
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 122
 17

composer in residence of a Symphony in the United States66 to her completion of over 500 works

in her career, many of which are centerpieces of repertoire lists and scheduled seasons of every

level of classical music performer67. Despite her overall inability to shatter the glass ceiling on

the composition of operas, she has paved the way for generations of composers that have and

will continue to come after her. Other than her accomplishments as a composer, her creation of

the American Composer’s Forum, an institution created to be safe from the systems that stood in

her way as a budding composer68. She has also done significant work as a guest lecturer at

universities and served on the music panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, all of this

work to make some of those systems less treacherous69. Although the opera community, in

particular, has a long way to come, Larsen was able to create an opening for women to

breakthrough in the future.

Despite her success and the work that she has put into minimizing the detriment some of

these systems have on both experienced and inexperienced composers, the systems still stand.

Women composed operas make up a small fraction of the operas performed across the united

states. If there were one solution to this problem it would already be fixed, but the silencing of

women begins in childhood, and although that pressure has diminished with time, it still exists.

Many school districts do not have music programs until middle or even high school, which is in

many cases too late to engage young people who could have become the next generation of great

composers. To this day academia remains a challenging place to break into for women

especially, with tenured faculty who refuse to adapt to changing times, to attitudes among

students and faculty alike who feel a student who isn't exceptional upon admission will never

66
Feldman, “Larsen [Reece], Libby,”
67
Larsen, “Libby.,”
68
Glahn, “Larsen and the Academic Years” 115
69
Feldman, “Larsen [Reece], Libby,”
 18

become prolific in their field, and a woman must be far more excellent than her male peers to be

considered their equal. Money in opera and the systems of donors and opera boards that dole it

out are of a bygone era and are a cement wall that stands between the work of women composers

and producing it. If it was one thing standing in the way of women composers being broadly

recognized for their excellence, it would be fixed already. It is systematic and it will take and has

taken generations of work to make the change.

 19

Bibliography
Tertiary Sources:

“The Arts Are Important to Minnesota.” Minnesota State Arts Board. Accessed November 16,
2020. http://www.arts.state.mn.us/about/facts.htm.

Cooper, Michael. “The Met Is Creating New Operas (Including Its First by Women).” The New
York Times. The New York Times, September 23, 2018. Last modified September 23,
2018. Accessed November 16, 2020.
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Ammer, Christine. Unsung: a History of Women in American Music. Westport, Connecticut:

Greenwood Press, 1980.

Glahn, Denise Von. Libby Larsen Composing an American Life. Champaign, Illinois: University
of Illinois Press, 2017.

Kessler, Daniel. Sarah Caldwell: The First Woman of Opera. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow
Press Incorporated, 2008.

Koay, Kheng K. The Kaleidoscope of Women’s Sounds in Music of the Late 20th and Early 21st
Centuries. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UNKNOWN: Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2015.
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Letzter, Jacqueline, and Robert Adelson. Women Writing Opera: Creativity and Controversy in
the Age of the French Revolution. Berkeley, California: University of California Press,
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Larsen, Libby. Eric Hermannson's Soul. Opera in 2 Acts, Libretto by Chas Rader-Shieber. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Larsen, Libby. Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus. A Musical Drama, Libretto by Libby
Larsen, Boston, MA: EC Schirmer Publishing, 1989.

Larsen, Libby “‘I Am Woman’ -- Libby Larsen | Penn State University.” Accessed October 12,
2020. https://news.psu.edu/story/537077/2018/09/19/arts-and-entertainment/i-am-woman-
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Reviews

Tribune, John von Rhein, Chicago. “NEW HIGH-TECH `FRANKENSTEIN` OPERA

AMBITIOUS, BUT OUT OF CONTROL.” chicagotribune.com. Accessed October 14,
2020. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-05-29-9002130858-story.html.

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