In 2020, the Deborah Cheetham Fraillon bust was gifted to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music by the Composing Women students as a gift of activism. Determined to achieve gender equity, the busts of Hildegard von Bingen and Nina Simone were unveiled last week. They are now displayed in the library with Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner.
Composing Women graduates Bree Van Reyk and Jane Sheldon and the bust of Deborah Cheetham Fraillon. Photo © Stefanie Zingsheim.
Striving to represent women and inspire students, drummer and composer Bree van Reyk and her mentor Professor Liza Lim commissioned Sydney artist Anna-Wili Highfield to create original artworks of women composers.
The conversation began when van Reyk was confronted by three traditional busts at the entrance of the Sydney Conservatorium library of, “dead, old, white dudes.” In outrage, van Reyk wrote to the Dean requesting female representation. After the addition of a tiny Clara Schumman statue on the library front desk, van Reyk knew she must take action herself.
“After we saw the Clara Schumann statue, we...
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