Women conductors 2024: Not much progress

It has been three years since our last power list of women conductors, and most of the names remain the same. Cuddly pictures of three women at Bayreuth confirm a perceptual shift but, with LA and San Francisco still vacant, no woman has yet made it to the helm of a major US orchestra. Why is that?

The rankings are asessed on position, profile, guest engagements and frequent shortlistings.

(Last rankings in brackets.)

1 (21) Eun Sun Kim
San Francisco Opera

2 (3) Simone Young
Sydney Symphony

3 (1) Oksana Lyniv
Bologna and Bayreuth

4 (9) Joanna Mallwitz
Berlin Konzerthaus

5 (2) Nathalie Stutzmann
Atlanta Symphony

6 (-) Marie Jacquot
WDR Symphony Cologne and Wiener Symphoniker

7 (14) Speranza Scapucci
Covent Garden #2

8 (-) Barbara Hannigan
Iceland Symphony Orchestra

9 (6) Karina Canellakis
American in Holland

10 (18) Dalia Stasevska
MD at Lahti, #2 at BBC Symphony, fast rising

11 (-) Alondra de la Parra
Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid

12 (16) Gemma New
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

13 (-) Anna-Maria Helsing
BBC Concert Orchestra

14 (4) Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Freelance projects

15 (5) Marin Alsop
principal guest, Philadelphia Orchestra

16 (25) Jo-Ann Falletta
Buffalo Symphony

17 (7) Elim Chan
Antwerp Symphony

18 (11) Joana Carneiro
Real Filharmonia de Galicia

19 (10) Susanna Mälkki
freelance projects

20 (-) Lydia Yankovskaya
Chicago Opera Theater

21 (8) Marta Gardolinska
Opéra national de Lorraine

22 (26) Xian Zhang
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

23 (15) Han-na Chang
Trondheim Symphony

24 (19) Anna Skryleva
Magdeburg music director

25 (-) Alena Hron
South Czech Philharmonic

26 (20) Débora Waldman
First woman music director at a French symphony orchestra

27 (-) Ruth Reinhardt
Long Island Philharmonic

28 (-) Keri-Lynn Wilson
Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra

29 (-) Karen Kamensek
freelance projects

30 (-) Nil Vendetti
Royal Northern Sinfonia, pg

Who have we omitted?

UPDATE Addenda:

31 (-) Daniela Candillari
Opera Theater of St Louis

32 (12) Anja Bihlmaier
Lahti Symphony, Residetie The Hague (final season)

33 (-) Tabitha Berglund
Detroit Symphony, pg

34 (-) Chloé van Soeterstede
Bournemouth SO pg

35 (-) Maria Seletskaja
English National Ballet

36 (23) Alevtina Ioffe.
GMD of Bühnen Bern

37 (-) Bar Avni
Bayer Philharmoniker

38 (-) Melisse Brunet
Lexington Philharmonic

39 (-) Valentina Peleggi
Teatro de Opera São Pedro

40 (-) Anu Tali
Nordic Symphony Orchestra