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Women in Classical Music and Dance: Key Insights from the Bachtrack 2025 Statistics
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26 January 2026
Industry News, Nominee, Winners
The Bachtrack Classical Music Statistics 2025 provide a research-driven overview of gender representation in classical music and dance programming worldwide, highlighting both measurable progress and the need for continued structural change.
In dance, the data points to a significant concentration of women choreographers at the highest level of international programming. Blanca Li emerged as the most programmed woman choreographer worldwide in 2025, ranking sixth overall among all choreographers. This visibility aligns with Li nomination for the FEDORA Digital Prize 2025 for Do the Dance, an interactive mixed- and virtual-reality project developed with the Paris National Opera, which expands choreographic experience through digital innovation.
The statistics also highlight Crystal Pite and Sharon Eyal, both ranked among the top 20 most programmed choreographers worldwide. Sharon Eyal received the FEDORA – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Dance Prize 2017 for Love Chapter 2, a project that has since become emblematic of her distinctive choreographic language. Crystal Pite was shortlisted for the FEDORA – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Ballet 2018 with 60, a large-scale collaborative creation developed with Nederlands Dans Theater to mark the company’s anniversary.
In music, the Bachtrack data shows that women composers remain underrepresented overall, but also highlights enduring figures whose work continues to shape programming trends. The late Kaija Saariaho remains among the five most performed female composers worldwide over the past decade. Saariaho was shortlisted for the FEDORA – GENERALI Opera Prize 2020 for Innocence, a major international co-commission premiered at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Taken together, the Bachtrack 2025 statistics confirm a positive long-term trend: women choreographers and composers are gaining increased visibility where sustained commissioning, innovation, and international collaboration are present.
Autour du monde : les statistiques Bachtrack 2025 de la musique classique
Au cours d'une année riche en événements, le monde de la musique classique a continué d'évoluer et de se transformer à sa manière. L'agenda de Bachtrack, qui a recensé 31455 concerts, opéras et spectacles de danse différents en 2025, constitue le plus grand échantillon disponible de ce monde du spectacle vivant.
Do the Dance
Do the dance is an interactive experience in mixed and virtual reality set up at the Paris Opera (and subsequently in other locations), and available online, allowing the viewer to experience the movements of classical and contemporary dance alongside the dancers and choreographers of the Opera.
© ALC i
Love Chapter 2
Love Chapter 2 is the second episode of the ongoing creation called Love Cycle, made by Sharon Eyal uniquely for the company. During 55 minutes without interruption, accompanied by DJ Ori Lichtik’s live music, five to seven dancers will explore through their movements social isolation, solitude lack of connections of nowadays world.
© Rahi Rezvani i
60
The concept of this ambitious evening is truly unique in its vision. It will be choreographed through the collaboration of NDT’s House choreographers, Sol León & Paul Lightfoot and NDT’s Associate Choreographers, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke.
© Jean-Louis Fernandez i
Innocence
Kaija Saariaho’s final opera INNOCENCE is a “thriller-opera” but also a story about recovery and healing that resonates with current concerns of humanity, dealing with how individuals, smaller groups and our society as a whole confront the past and tackle recent traumas over time.
