The Lili Project: Overview
Dawn Upshaw on the Lili Project: “The underrepresentation of women in the arts is a timeless injustice, the correction of which is long overdue. The obligation to right this wrong rests equally on the shoulders of people of all genders, and I am inspired by Eric’s mission through The Lili Project to help create a more just future.”
Commission- through the seed funding of the Kahn Award, we will be able to provide the initial funding for composers to create and workshop contemporary vocal music, richen the repertoire, and reach a wider audience with their unique and vital compositional voices.
Perform- In an effort to promote the music of these composers, and to raise funds for the continued support of commissions, we will make a recital tour of this new repertoire in tandem with the music of existing female composers, in our continued effort to urge the programming and awareness of the music of female composers.
Promote- Through The Lili Project Podcast, recital tour, recording and Songbook, we will be able to provide promotional support for the commissioned works of our team of composers, and encourage organizations and presenters to highlight the works of female composers, past and present. Our publicity team at Unison Media helps us to make this happen.
Resource- In an effort to raise awareness of the need for equality in programming, we are a resource for artists looking to do the same: by providing assistance in learning about the commissioning process, providing new vocal repertoire for programming, and welcoming new artists to our roster as we are able.
Cultivate- The goal of The Lili Project is two-fold: In our efforts to promote and preserve the works of female composers, we also strive to make lasting and meaningful artistic relationships with our composers, performers, and organizations who share our vision for a more equitable musical future.
Why The Lili Project?
Simply put: We need to change.
In 2018 of the 2,891 contemporary orchestral performances, just 12.8% were by women composers. How is that when 51% of the world population is female?
Prior to 2018, the Metropolitan Opera— the standard for opera in the world, had put on just two operas by women, neither of which were commissioned by the company itself: Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin in 2016 and Ethel M. Smyth’s Der Wald in 1903.
The goal of this project is not to act as a handout, but to highlight what we already know: There is amazing music being written by women, and it must have its place.