Brazilian soprano Gabriella Di Laccio has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday 2025 Honours for her services to music and gender equality.

Gabriella Di Laccio. Photo © Sharon Eve Smith

Di Laccio is the founder of the UK-based charitable foundation Donne, Women in Music, which produces an annual report tracking the representation of female composers in the programming of major international orchestras.

Its latest report, released in June 2024, revealed that 92.5 percent of works performed by these orchestras were penned by male composers; showing a regression in programming equality since its previous findings.

The organisation hosts the largest database of female composers and has commissioned and premiered more than 10 new works. It was also awarded a Guinness World Record last year for the Longest Acoustic Music Live-Streamed Concert, where it showcased music by 140 female and gender-diverse composers, arrangers and songwriters.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition, and I share it with all the women who came before me – those who paved the way...