Editing Conducting (section)

===21st century===
[[File:full score.jpg|thumb|Conductor's score and batons on a lit, extra-large conductor's music stand]]
[[Women in music#Conducting|Women conductors]] were almost unheard of in the ranks of leading orchestral conductors through most of the 19th and 20th centuries, but today, artists like {{interlanguage link|Hortense von Gelmini|de}},<ref>David Mutch: "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 persistance to make her mark in this difficult and competitive profession" – 1976 in: ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' {{Full citation needed|date=October 2017}}</ref> [[Marin Alsop]] and [[Simone Young]] lead orchestras. Alsop was appointed music director of the [[Baltimore Symphony Orchestra]] in 2007—the first woman appointed to head a major U.S. orchestra—and also of the [[São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra|Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo]] in 2012, and Alsop was the first woman to conduct on the last night of [[BBC Proms|The Proms]]. Young scored similar firsts when she became head of the [[Hamburg State Opera]] and [[Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg|Philharmoniker Hamburg]] in 2005; she is also the first woman conductor to record the [[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle]] of [[Richard Wagner]]. ''The Guardian'' called conducting "one of the last [[Glass ceiling|glass ceilings]] in the music industry".<ref name="motherjones.com">{{cite web|author=Hannah Levintova |url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/09/women-conductors-gap-charts-marin-alsop-proms |date=September 23, 2013 |title=Here's Why You Seldom See Women Leading a Symphony|work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|access-date=2016-01-20}}</ref> A 2013 article states that in France, out of 574 concerts only 17 were conducted by women and no women conducted at the [[Paris Opera|National Opéra in Paris]].<ref>{{cite news | author=Victor Tribot Laspière | title=Une main ferme à l'Orchestre national de France | url=http://www.francemusique.fr/actu-musicale/ou-sont-les-femmes-dans-la-musique-7766 | work=France Musique | date=2013-10-02 | access-date=2016-10-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018212908/http://www.francemusique.fr/actu-musicale/ou-sont-les-femmes-dans-la-musique-7766 |archive-date= Oct 18, 2016 }}</ref> "''Bachtrack'' reported that in a list of the world's 150 top conductors that year, only five were women."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classical-music.com/article/11-of-best-female-conductors |title=11 of today's top women conductors |publisher=Classical-Music.com |date=2015-03-06 |first1=Rosie |last1=Pentreath |access-date=2016-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120162025/http://www.classical-music.com/article/11-of-best-female-conductors |archive-date=2015-11-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> While Mexico has produced several major international conductors, [[Alondra de la Parra]] has become the first Mexican-born woman to attain distinction in the profession.

Similarly, conductors of East Asian descent have become more prominent within the contemporary orchestral landscape—notably [[Seiji Ozawa]] who was thematic director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1973 until 2002 after holding similar posts in San Francisco and Toronto. [[Myung-whun Chung|Myung-Whun Chung]], who has held major posts in Germany and France, is bringing the [[Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra]] to international attention. Notable [[black conductors]] include [[Henry Lewis (musician)|Henry Lewis]], [[Dean Dixon]], [[James DePreist]], [[Paul Freeman (conductor)|Paul Freeman]], and [[Michael Morgan (conductor)|Michael Morgan]]. According to [[Charlotte Higgins]]' 2004 article in ''The Guardian'', "black conductors are rare in the classical music world and even in symphony orchestras it is unusual to see more than one or two black musicians".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/10/edinburgh04.arts|title=Black conductor fears he will remain exception|date=10 August 2004|access-date=19 June 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Charlotte|last=Higgins|author-link=Charlotte Higgins}}</ref>