List of female classical conductors
The following is a partial and sortable list of female classical conductors. Classical conductors work with orchestras, opera companies, ballet companies and choral groups. This list exists in the historical context of a lack of female classical conductors in the music profession.
| Name | Image | Country | Orchestras | Born | Died | Notes |
| Brazil | Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional da Universidade Federal Fluminense Orquestra Filarmônica de Mendoza Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas Orquestra Filarmônica de Bogotá Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional Argentina Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira Orquestra Filarmônica de Montevideo | 1964 | First woman to be the principal conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional da Universidade Federal Fluminense and the Orquestra Filarmônica de Bogotá. Known for her contributions to Latin American classical music and the promotion of women in conducting. | |||
| United States | Colorado Symphony Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra | 1956 | First female conductor of the Colorado Symphony, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and of OSESP. First female conductor of the Last Night of the Proms in 2013 | |||
| Israel | Israel Philharmonic Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Berliner Symphoniker | 1933 | Dalia Atlas has conducted 82 orchestras in concerts, festivals and recordings, radio and television in 29 countries. | |||
| Sweden | 1841 | 1929 | In 1897 she was named leader of the Gothenburg Workers Institute Concerts, establishing her reputation as the first Swedish woman to conduct a symphony orchestra | |||
| France | Odyssey Symphony Orchestra | 1968 | ||||
| Jessica Bejarano | United States | San Francisco Philharmonic Peninsula Symphony | 1981 | Founder and music director of the San Francisco Philharmonic. | ||
| Netherlands | Orange County Philharmonic | 1904 | 1995 | |||
| Denmark | Gothenburg Symphony, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra | 1982 | ||||
| Israel | Houston Symphony Louisville Orchestra Israel Philharmonic | 1955 | ||||
| Canada | 1957 | |||||
| France | London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony, New York Philharmonic | 1887 | 1979 | First woman to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra. | ||
| United States | Memphis Symphony Orchestra | Only African-American and Latinamerican conductor in the United States as of 2019. | ||||
| Netherlands | New York Philharmonic, Denver Community Symphony | 1902 | 1989 | First woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic. | ||
| United States | Boston University Opera Workshop Opera Company of Boston | 1924 | 2006 | First woman to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera | ||
| United States | Radio Filharmonisch Orkest | 1981 | First female chief conductor of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, and the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of any Dutch orchestra. | |||
| Canada | the Ottawa Bach Choir | Canadian choral conductor. Conductor of the first Canadian choir to be invited to sing at the Thomaskirche. Juno award nominated in 2020. | ||||
| Portugal | Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa | 1976 | ||||
| Hong Kong | NorrlandsOperan Royal Scottish National Orchestra Antwerp Symphony Orchestra | 1986 | First female principal guest conductor of the RSNO
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| South Korea | Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra | 1982 | First female music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. First female chief conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra | |||
| United States | Chicago Sinfonietta, Memphis Symphony Orchestra | 1973 | First female music director each of the Chicago Sinfonietta and of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra | |||
| Italy | Maggio Musicale Fiorentino | 1976 | First female conductor to win a gold medal in 2001 in an international conducting competition and the second conductor to receive a Fulbright congressional grant. | |||
| France/United Kingdom | St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus | 1999 | Principal Guest Conductor of Barcelona Symphony Orchestra Glyndebourne Opera | |||
| United States | Cosmopolitan Opera Company; Jewish American Opera Company | 1878 | 1952 | First female in New York to conduct an opera. First female in United States to conduct a grand opera. | ||
| United Kingdom | Royal Albert Hall, Royal Marines, Coleridge-Taylor Symphony Orchestra | 1903 | 1998 | First female conductor of the H.M.S Royal Marines. Guest conductor, BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra | ||
| France | Grand Rapids Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra | 1944 | ||||
| Australia | Glasgow New Music Expedition | 1979 | First female chief conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra | |||
| Hungary | Hungarian Opera, since 1983 | 1958 | ||||
| Mexico | Philharmonic Orchestra of the AmericasQueensland Symphony Orchestra | 1980 | First female conductor at the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. | |||
| Latvia | 1929 | 2011 | ||||
| Michelle Di Russo | Argentina | North Carolina Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orechestra | ||||
| United Kingdom | ORA Singers | 1958 | ||||
| Poland | Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra Amadeus in Poznan | 1946 | - | |||
| Russia | Junior conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra Principal conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra Symphony Orchestra of Russia | 1916 | 2009 | First 20th century female symphony orchestra conductor | ||
| United Kingdom | English National Opera, Ensemble Modern | 1959 | First female music director of English National Opera | |||
| France | Accentus | 1962 | ||||
| United States | Virginia Symphony Orchestra Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Ulster Orchestra | 1954 | First female music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. First female chief conductor of the Ulster Orchestra | |||
| Australia | The Australian Ballet | 1960 | The world's only woman music director of a ballet company. | |||
| Austria | L'arpa festante, L'Orfeo | 1957 | ||||
| Poland | Opéra national de Lorraine | 1988 | First female music director of the Opéra national de Lorraine. | |||
| Germany | Nürnberger Symphoniker Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Hofer Symphoniker | 1947 | First female conductor of these and other German Symphony Orchestras between 1975 and 1980. Conductor of the Orchestra of Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 1965, Founder and conductor of Orchestra Gelmini since 1969. "The gathering critical judgement of Hortense von Gelmini, Germany's only woman conductor, is that she has not only the talent but the education, energy, and persistence to make her mark in this difficult and competitive profession." | |||
| United Kingdom | London Repertoire Orchestra, Chanticleer Orchestra | 1921 | 1999 | Founded the London Repertoire Orchestra and the Chanticleer Orchestra, served as conductor and music director for the City of Birmingham Choir. | ||
| United Kingdom | London Mozart Players, Music of the Baroque, Chicago | 1949 | First female music director of the London Mozart Players and of Music of the Baroque, Chicago. Third woman to conduct the Metropolitan Opera. | |||
| Brazil | 1847 | 1935 | First female conductor in Brazil. | |||
| United States | Special Jury Prize, 50th Geneva International Conducting Competition | 1967 | Founded FORCULTURE in 2014 | |||
| Lithuania | Salzburger Landestheater City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | 1986 | First female music director of the CBSO | |||
| Venezuela | 1953 | |||||
| France | Le Concert d'Astrée | 1962 | First woman to conduct at Lyric Opera of Chicago | |||
| Canada | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Ludwig Orchestra | 1971 | First female principal guest conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | |||
| United Kingdom | Theatre orchestras | 1857 | 1940 | Conducted the play Beethoven's Romance at the Royalty Theatre, London in 1894. | ||
| United States | Minnesota Orchestra | 1972 | ||||
| United States | Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra | 1921 | 1998 | Founder and director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. | ||
| United Kingdom | 1907 | 1984 | ||||
| Taiwan / United States | 1956 | |||||
| Laura Jackson | United States | Reno Philharmonic Orchestra | ||||
| China | 1982 | |||||
| Australia | El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Tacoma Symphony Orchestra | 1972 | ||||
| France | Choeur de Radio France BBC Singers, Ars Nova Copenhagen | 1976 | First female chief conductor of the Choeur de Radio France, the BBC Singers, and of Ars Nova Copenhagen | |||
| United Kingdom | Oper Köln, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal | 1961 | ||||
| United States | Slovenian National Theatre Staatsoper Hannover | 1970 | ||||
| United States | New York City Master Chorale | 1965 | ||||
| Czech Republic | Czech Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra | 1915 | 1940 | |||
| United States | Berkeley Youth Orchestra, Berkeley, California Holy Names-Mills College Orchestra, Oakland, California Prometheus Symphony Orchestra, Oakland, California | 1936 | 1980 | Founded the Berkeley Youth Orchestra in 1969 | ||
| South Korea | Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera | 1980 | First female conductor to be named principal guest conductor of the Houston Grand Opera. First female music director of San Francisco Opera | |||
| United Kingdom | Bromley Symphony Orchestra British Women's Symphony Orchestra | 1873 | 1930 | Founded the British Women's Symphony Orchestra in 1923 | ||
| United States | Hartford Symphony Orchestra | 1977 | First female music director of the Hartford Symphony | |||
| Netherlands | Berliner Tonküstlerinnen Orchester and other female orchestras in the Hague, London and New York | 1877 | 1953 | |||
| United Kingdom, United States | Major orchestras in Munich, Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Hollywood Bowl. Boston Phil., Boston Woman's SO, the Woman's Symphony Orchestra, Chicago. | 1886 | 1970 | After retiring as a pianist, studied conducting with Eugene Goossens and Robert Heger in 1923. She conducted at leading European opera houses in the early 1930s, and her own opera, Gale, at Chicago City Opera. | ||
| United Kingdom | 1902 | 1997 | First woman to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She started the Macnaghten-Lemare series of concerts which introduced the public to new works by British composers. She is considered the first British woman to have worked professionally as a conductor | |||
| Cuba/United States | 1943 | |||||
| Ukraine | Graz Opera, Bavarian State Opera | 1978 | First-ever Generalmusikdirektorin of the Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra. First female chief conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. First female conductor ever to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival | |||
| United States | Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra | 1949 | First African American woman conductor of Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Symposia and festival director of Detroit Symphony's African American Composer's Forum and Symposium Created West Coast Women's Conductor/Composer Symposium and American Women Conductor/Composer Symposium at the University of Oregon | |||
| Finland | Ensemble Intercontemporain Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Los Angeles Philharmonic | 1969 | First female music director of the EIC
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| Germany | Theater ErfurtStaatstheater Nürnberg | 1986 | First-ever Generalmusikdirektorin of the Theater Erfurt and of the Staatstheater Nürnberg. First-ever female chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and first-ever female chief conductor of any Berlin orchestra | |||
| United States | Kansas City Symphony, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra | 1986 | First-ever female music director of the Kansas City Symphony and of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra | |||
| United Kingdom | Philharmonic Society South Hampstead Orchestra | 1843 | 1922 | Conducted at the Hampstead Conservatoire, as well as the South Hampstead Orchestra, which attracted soloists including Fritz Kreisler, Isolde Menges and Mischa Elman. | ||
| Ariane Matiakh | France | Opera and Staatskapelle Halle | 1980 | First-ever Generalmusikdirektorin of the Opera and Staatskapelle Halle | ||
| Simone Menezes | Brazil, Italy | Camerata Latino Americana | 1977 | Conductor of Unicamp Symphony Orchestra, founder of Camerata Latino Americana and Villa-Lobos Project | ||
| Kathleen Merritt | United Kingdom | Petersfield Orchestra Kathleen Merritt Orchestra Southern String Orchestra | 1901 | 1985 | Founded local orchestras around Petersfield in Hampshire, then founded the professional Kathleen Merritt Orchestra in 1939 | |
| Poland | Zielona Góra Filharmonia Krakow Opera Wroclaw Opera | 1943 | First female director of Krakow Opera; First female director of Wroclaw Opeta | |||
| New Zealand | Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra | 1986 | First female music director of the Hamilton PO | |||
| Japan | Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra | 1970 | ||||
| Serbia | 1969 | |||||
| Finland | Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra | 1982 | First female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, and of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra | |||
| Vietnam, Australia, Philippines | 1940 | 2013 | ||||
| United States | Opera Orchestra of New York | 1931 | Founder of Opera Orchestra of New York | |||
| Great Britain | The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet | 1964 | First female music director of The Royal Ballet and the New York City Ballet | |||
| Gal Rasché | Austria | Viennarmonica, Metropolitan Kammerorchester Wien | 1960 | |||
| United Kingdom | 1907 | 1973 | Founder, Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932, London Women's String Orchestra in 1938 | |||
| United States | New England Orchestra | 1950 | ||||
| United States | San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pasadena Opera, Mill Valley Philharmonic. | 1982 | Full-time faculty at SF Conservatory of Music, Associate Conductor of Opera. Earned an undergraduate degree in aeronautics and literature from Caltech prior to becoming a conductor. | |||
| United States | El Paso Civic Orchestra | 1927 | 2020 | |||
| Spain | 1972 | First female conductor who took the podium at the Vatican in 2008. | ||||
| Germany | Theater Magdeburg | 1975 | First female general music director of Theater Magdeburg, and first Russian female conductor as general music director in Europe. | |||
| United States | Apollo's Fire | 1965 | ||||
| Ethel Stark | Canada | Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra | 1910 | 2012 | Virtuoso violinist; first Canadian accepted at Curtis Institute of Music; founded and led the Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra 1940-1965. | |
| Nathalie Stutzmann | France | Orfeo 55, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | 1965 | First female to conduct an opera at the head of Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. First female music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | ||
| Poland | 1995 | Winner of Maestra Competition in Paris 2022 | ||||
| Estonia | Nordic Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra | 1972 | Co-founder of the Nordic Symphony Orchestra. First female music director of the Sarasota Orchestra. | |||
| Hungary | Budapest Opera 1973–1980, Budapest Operetta 1980–2004, Miskolc National Theatre 1984–2012 | 1948 | 2015 | |||
| United States | Michigan Philharmonic | Winner of the American Prize in Conducting 2013 | ||||
| United Kingdom | Aeolian Ladies' Orchestra | 1865 | 1959 | Founder of the first all-female orchestra in the UK in 1886 | ||
| Antonia Joy Wilson | United States | Artistic director: Global Arts Center & Multimedia Symphony in XR Visual Worlds / Artistic director: Midland Center for the Arts: Midland Symphony Orchestra / resident principal guest conductor: Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Sofia for two years / music director: Le Festivale: Orchestra & Chorus of Colorado | 1958 | The youngest woman to conduct a major American orchestra, she made her professional debut with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21. She was noted in a Los Angeles Times article on women cracking the "glass podium" of conducting by being appointed to positions in major American orchestras. | ||
| Canada | Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, Kyiv Camerata | 1967 | First female chief conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic and of Kyiv Camerata | |||
| United States | Symphony of Southeast Texas Norwalk Symphony Orchestra Allentown Symphony Orchestra | 1964 | The 1st female music director of an orchestra in the State of Texas, and the first female conductor at the Ojai Music Festival, California | |||
| United States | Symphony Orchestra in Wheeling, Pasadena POPS | 1950 | ||||
| Switzerland | 1983 | Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer is a Swiss conductor and musicologist. She is the principal conductor of the Swiss Orchestra. | ||||
| United States | Chicago Opera Theater, Refugee Orchestra Project, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Lowell House Opera, Commonwealth Lyric Theater | 1986 | Russian-American opera and symphonic conductor and the music director of Chicago Opera Theater As of her appointment at COT, Yankovskaya is the only female music director of a major American opera company. | |||
| Australia | Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Opera Australia Philharmoniker Hamburg, Sydney Symphony Orchestra | 1961 | First female conductor of the Vienna State Opera in 1993. Second woman to conduct the Metropolitan Opera. First female chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra | |||
| China | Sioux City Symphony Orchestra Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi New Jersey Symphony Orchestra BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Seattle Symphony Orchestra | 1973 | * First female music director of the Sioux City Symphony, of La Verdi, and of the NJSO.
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| China | China National Opera House, Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ai Yue Nu Philharmonic Orchestra | 1929 | First female conductor in China. |