In 2013, a Thomson Reuters poll found Egypt to be the worst Arab state for women’s rights (http://news.trust.org//spotlight/poll-womens-rights-in-the-arab-world/). Just four years later, the EECMS has collaborated with the Women and Memory Forum to produce “Women Composers of Our Time.” This landmark event is part of EECMS’s ongoing effort to promote new Arab music through commissions, performances, thematic forums, and artist exchanges. Entrepreneurship and personal initiative are as important as ever for professional musicians, but even in the age of the internet, formal organizations such as the EECMS and the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) continue to play vital roles in new music. Thanks to a mix of public and private funding the EECMS is establishing the infrastructure and systems required to identify and support new talent, foster community and opportunity, and engage a variety of audiences.
By Joy H. Calico,
Professor of Musicology and European Studies Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the American Musicological Society
the article will be published in the Women Composes of our time´s event book.