Afternoon seminar

The long history of women organists
Kimberly Marshall, keynote lecturer and moderator
Anna Steppler, a. o.

The presenters explore the often-overlooked contributions of women to musical culture from antiquity to the present. The earliest documented organist was a woman, Thaïs of Alexandria, whose epitaph attests to her skill as a performer in the third century CE. Medieval and Renaissance art likewise depicts women playing the organ in both symbolic and realistic contexts, reflecting their presence in religious, courtly, and domestic musical life. By tracing the achievements of women as performers, composers, patrons, and teachers across the centuries, this seminar challenges the notion that musical composition has historically been an exclusively male domain.

Roots of the Swedish organ art in the 20th century
Jonas Lundblad, lecturer