Magdalena Fürnkranz
(University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna)
Abstract
In order to get an overview of the situation of female instrumentalists in Austrian jazz, I examine in this audio presentation various aspects of the scene. I focus on the historical and current role of women in jazz based on artists’ biographies and on the analysis of comprehensive data concerning gender distribution to question the system of inclusion and exclusion within a hegemonic system. My perspective poses questions on how gender is constructed, represented and negotiated through the artists’ individual work and a conglomeration of works. The research includes aspects of performance, as well as writing and speaking about jazz, performative aspects of gender and the processes and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paying particular attention to measures to improve the situation of female instrumentalists in the Austrian jazz scene, I discuss the “Gina Schwarz PANNONICA-Project”, an initiative that seeks to provide insight into the careers of women in jazz and to promote dialogue involving international musicians from various genres, generations and countries.
Audio presentation
Extended transcript of audio presentation
Images
Vera Auer
Image 1: Vera Auer ca. 1964 in New York (Wikimedia Commons: Oobspacer)
Ursula Anders
Image 2: Ursula Anders 1979 in Vienna (Photo: Renate Porstendorfer)
Gina Schwarz
Image 3: Gina Schwarz (Photo: Wolfgang Agnelli)
Image 4: Gina Schwarz Pannonica Project Stage Band (Photo: Iris Camaa)
Image 5: Pannonica meets mdw poster (mdw 2017)
Image 6: Gina Schwarz Pannonica: All Alone 2020 (CD cover)
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CONTENTS
- Preface / Elina Seye & Nina Öhman
- No future? Female Instrumentalists in the Austrian Jazz Scene / Magdalena Fürnkranz
- When the Singer Hires the Musicologist: Chaabi Habibi, an Action Research lead by Female Moroccan Musicians in Belgium / Hélène Sechehaye & Laïla Amezian
- A window into the World of South Indian Female Percussionists in Kerala / Karin Bindu & Retnasree Iyer
- Becoming “Women of the Future”: Malian-Finnish Conversations about Being Musicians and Women / Marjo Smolander, Sinimuso & Elina Seye