Donne, Women in Music has released the Equality & Diversity in Global Repertoire Report for 2024. It reveals a regression in both gender and racial diversity in global programming after analysing the 2023-24 programs of 111 major orchestras (four of them Australian) in 30 countries. 

The title image for Donne, Women in Music’s 2024 Equality & Diversity in Global Repertoire report. Artwork by Isabel Chiara

The report notes that 92.5 percent of compositions performed by major orchestras worldwide were written by male composers – an increase from the 92.3 percent noted in the 2021–22 report. Only 7.5 percent of analysed works were written by women in 2023-24 seasons, down from 7.7 percent.

The performance of works written by white men has also seen a jump, from 87.7 percent to 89.3 percent. Works written by non-white women slipped from 2.1 percent to 1.6 percent of global repertoire, while works by non-white men fell from 4.5 percent to 3.2 percent.