Music History Is Missing Thousands of Women

What if we told you that music history is missing more than 12,000 women composers?

Not because they didn’t exist, but because history never truly included them.

For centuries, extraordinary music written by women has rarely appeared in concert programmes, recordings, classrooms, or history books.

Which means we have all been missing something remarkable.

One Artist’s Question

Eight years ago, soprano and advocate Gabriella Di Laccio MBE asked a simple question:

What began as one artist’s passion project grew into something extraordinary.

That search led to the creation of Donne – Women in Music and The Big List, the world’s largest database of women composers.

A Discovery That Changes Everything

For years, the database documented around 5,000 names, becoming an important resource for performers, educators, researchers, and concert programmers around the world.

But recently, through new research in collaboration with researcher Eric Ruijssenaars, something remarkable was revealed.

The database now includes more than 18,000 women composers.

An entire musical heritage — thousands of composers — is finally coming into view.

Our Goal

We are raising £10,000 to rebuild the Donne platform so the world’s largest database of women composers can become fully searchable and accessible.

Your support will help us:

• publish the full list of 18,000 composers

• create a powerful and user-friendly platform

• support performers discovering new repertoire

• help educators and researchers access this knowledge

• continue expanding the database as new discoveries emerge

The Music We’ve Been Missing

There is still so much extraordinary music waiting to be heard.

Some of these composers wrote centuries ago. Others are living today.

All of them deserve to be discovered.

We still don’t know who their music might inspire:

• a young composer

• a student searching for role models

• a performer discovering new repertoire

• an audience hearing something beautiful for the first time

But we do know one thing: visibility changes what people believe is possible.

Join Us

Help us bring the world’s largest database of women composers to life.

Once this platform is built, the list will continue to grow - uncovering thousands more composers who are still waiting to be recognised.

Every donation helps reveal a piece of music history that has been hidden for far too long.

And every share helps more people discover how much beautiful music we’ve all been missing.

Donate or share the campaign today.

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