FEMALE WORKS LIST
Given percussion is a relatively new solo instrument, I truly believe that all percussionists should be programming 50:50 gender equal programs - we have no excuse!
This list should help you get started on a journey of discovering a whole raft of awesome new music by female identifying composers from around the world. Many of these works were created in collaboration with me (denoted with ^) and many very recently as part of my Rhythms of Change project and others can be found here on my YouTube playlist of Repertoire by Female Identifying Composers.
This is another great list collated by James Doyle at Adams State University of Percussion Ensemble works by female identifying composers - many of which have been incorporated below. Please contact me if you have any suggestions for additions to this ever growing list.
"I am very grateful for your project and feel that the gender balance among composers for percussion is the most important challenge we face currently - I feel the need for greater equity more than ever right now. Thank you for your efforts Claire!” Steve Schick
MARIMBA SOLO
Abe, Keiko – Ancient Vase, Memories of the Seashore, Little Windows, Wind in the Bamboo Grove, Wind Sketch, Prism, Marimba d’Amore, Frogs, Dream of the Cherry Blossoms, Michi, Variations on Japanese Children’s Songs
Abbott, Katy - Quid Pro Quo 🇦🇺
Billic, Ivana - Wild Rose
Bley, Carla – Over There
Cawrse, Anne - Dance Vignettes (4.3 octave marimba solo) ^🇦🇺
Cole, Amanda - Glocken Blocken (marimba & almglocken) ^🇦🇺
Etezady, Roshanne - Boomslang, Disco Lemonade (marimba solos)
Fukushima, Aiko – Dance of Words
Gardner, Alexandra - Ayehli (5 octave marimba solo)
Gomez, Alice & Rife, Marilyn - Rain Dance, Anasazi
Grenfell, Maria - Stings & Wings (4.3 octave marimba solo) ^🇦🇺
Henneman, Ig - Molot
Ignatowicz, Anne - Toccata, The Silence Pierced by Distraction
Jolas, Betsy – Morning Thoughts
Kats-Chernin, Elena - Violet's Etude ^🇦🇺
Keller, Andrea - Pierrot the Clown ^🇦🇺
Likhuta, Catherine - Under the Blue (marimba solo) 🇦🇺
Likhuta, Catherine - Heirlooms (marimba & piano) 🇦🇺
Macens, Ella - Verve ^🇦🇺
Metcalfe, Joanne - Floating and Grooving (marimba solo)
Ptaszyńska, Marta - The Twittering Tree (xylophone solo)
Polias, Peggy – Receptor (4.3 octave marimba solo) ^🇦🇺
Reed Thomas, Augusta - Bebop Riddle (5 octave marimba solo)
Spencer, Julie – Brothers in Peace, After the Storm, Chelsea Window
Stasack, Jennifer - Six Elegies Dancing
Taylor, Hollis (& Jon Rose) - Dalrymple (marimba & backing track) ^🇦🇺
Wallen, Errollyn – Remember, Marimba
Yi, Chen – Jing Marimba, Colours of Naobo
Zeltsman, Nancy - Black Velvet (marimba solo)
VIBRAPHONE SOLO
Chance, Alice - Mirroring (vibraphone solo) ^🇦🇺
Cole, Amanda - Vibraphone Theory (vibraphone & electronics) 🇦🇺
Hennies, Sarah - Sisters (vibraphone solo)
Jolas, Betsy – Etudes Apercues (vibraphone & almglocken)
Jolas, Betsy - Music for Joan (vibraphone &piano)
Kats-Chernin, Elena - Poppy’s Polka (vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Kats-Chernin, Elena – Distant Solo (vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Lann, Vanessa - Claire’s Candle (vibraphone solo) ^
Macens, Ella – Falling Embers (vibraphone & crotales) ^🇦🇺
Seo, Juri - V (vibraphone solo)
Southam, Ann - Alternate Currents (vibraphone & gongs)
Smith, Linda Catlin - Clouds (vibraphone solo)
Strong, Clare – Behind Blue Eyes (vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Taylor, Hollis (& Jon Rose) - Owens Springs Reserve 2016 (vibraphone & backing track) ^🇦🇺
Taylor, Hollis (& Jon Rose) - Owens Springs Reserve 2011 (vibraphone & backing track) ^🇦🇺
Taylor, Hollis (& Jon Rose) - N’dhala Gorge (vibraphone & backing track) 🇦🇺
Thompson, Sarah Elise - Sand Dollar (vibraphone solo) 🇦🇺
Thompson. Sarah Elise - The Music Box (vibraphone & electronics) 🇦🇺
van Reyk, Bree - Slipstreams (vibraphone solo) ^🇦🇺
MULTI PERCUSSION SOLO
Abbott, Katy – Taking Chances (hi hats solo) 🇦🇺
Bourne, Bridget - Polygraph (5 tom toms) 🇦🇺
Bowler, Laura - The Digger (small set up & tape)
Cleare, Ann - A unit of wrest for wire and metallic sculpture (percussion and electronics)
Chin, Unsuk - Allegro ma non Troppo (multi & tape)
Davies, Tansy - Dark Ground (multi solo)
Edwardes, Claire - Screechers & Sorrows (waterphone) ^🇦🇺
Edwardes, Claire - Ether Lines (waterphone) ^🇦🇺
Eötvös, Melody - Counterpoint (multi, electronics) ^🇦🇺
Eötvös, Melody - Antumbra: I-III (glockenspiel & electronics) ^🇦🇺
Fure, Ashley - Shiver Lung (multi)
Hans, Olga - Bass-Dance (solo bass drum)
Hartman, Hanna - Message from the Lighthouse (percussion & samples)
Hope, Cat - Tone Being (tam-tam & sub-woofer), Broken Approach (solo bass drum kit) 🇦🇺
Jolley, Jennifer – How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles (percussion & voice)
Kats-Chernin, Elena – Clip (multi)
Little, Jeanette - Intimacy (vibraphone, 3 quarter tone metal pipes, 2 ceramic pots) 🇦🇺
Lloyd-Jones, Rebecca - Iterations (multi percussion) 🇦🇺
Lim, Liza - An Elemental Thing (woodblock) 🇦🇺
Lizeè, Nicole – Ribbon Windows A/B (multi) ^
Lizeè, Nicole – Ringer (drumkit & glockenspiel)
Lyon, May - Phosphorus (snare drum & cymbal) 🇦🇺
Macens, Ella – Colour Burst (multi) ^🇦🇺
Mihajlović, Ana – Transformations (marimba, vibraphone, percussion & voice)
Moore, Kate - Coral Speak (Spel I vibraphone solo from Coral Speak) 🇦🇺
Moore, Kate - Rain (snare drum solo) 🇦🇺
Neal, Kate - Self Accusation 🇦🇺
Nemtsov, Sarah - Shadow Drums (percussion solo (with voice, electronics, tape, objects and light)
Nemtsov, Sarah - BUGS (study for snare, mini robots, hands, amplification)
Neuwirth, Olga - coronAtion I: io son ferito ahimè (percussion & sampler)
Nicolas, Natalie - I beat with the world outside (percussion & pre-recorded track) ^🇦🇺
Oh, Seung-Won - Circle for One (multi solo) ^
Ptasynska, Marta - Space Model, Spider Walk (multi)
Saariaho, Kaija – Six Japanese Gardens (multi & electronics solo)
Saunders, Rebecca - dust (multi solo & percussion ensemble version)
Strong, Clare - Moonlight (metal percussion) ^🇦🇺
Thompson, Sarah-Elise - II (small gong) ^🇦🇺
Tower, Joan - Small (for small percussion instruments)
Tsoupaki, Calliope - Dithyrambos (long & short versions)
Wolfe, Julia - Iron Maiden (multi solo)
Younan, Elizabeth - Electors of Middlemarch (multi & voice) ^🇦🇺
TIMPANI SOLO
Badian, Maya - Timpani Quantum 2009
Kishino, Malika - Monochromer Garten III (timpani & temple bowls)
Shiner, Kristen - Declaration, Song and Dance
Zeltsman, Nancy - Quatre/Quatre (timpani soo)
PERCUSSION CONCERTOS
Abe, Keiko – Prism Rhapsody (marimba concerto)
Alrich, Alexis - Marimba Concerto
Beamish, Sally – Trance o Nicht (marimba & percussion concerto)
Cawrse, Anne - Marimba Concerto (2023) ^ 🇦🇺
Chin, Unsuk – Double Concerto (percussion & piano double concerto)
Hans, Olga - Entelecheia (cello & percussion double concerto)
Higdon, Jennifer – Percussion Concerto
Kats-Chernin, Elena - Golden Kitsch (percussion concerto) ^ 🇦🇺
Lizée, Nicole – Sepulchre (for string orchestra, percussion, piano and soundtrack)
Musgrave, Thea - Journey through a Japanese Landscape (percussion concerto)
Nemtsov, Sarah - En face (percussion solo, narrator and orchestra)
Tower, Joan – Strike Zones (percussion concerto)
Wallen, Errollyn – Percussion Concerto
Williams, Natalie - Percussion Concerto (2022) ^ 🇦🇺
Yi, Chen – Percussion Concerto
CHAMBER MUSIC & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Abbott, Katy - Re-Echo (cello & vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Abbott, Katy – Taking Chances (hi hat quartet)
Abbasi, Anahita – Distorted Attitudes III/Scattered (baritone and large tam tam)
Abbasi, Anahita – Sirventès (cello & percussion)
Abe, Keiko - Conversations in the Forest (percussion quartet)
Bång, Malin– Arching (cello & wooden plank, saw, rasp, file)
Bellor, Jennifer – Amethyst Sunset (2 pianos, 2 percussion)
Bowler, Laura - One Point (percussion soloist w. aluphone, percussion quartet & video)
Bourne, Bridget - Con Sequence (percussion trio) 🇦🇺
Boyd, Anne – Kakan (flute, marimba, piano) 🇦🇺
Cleare, Ann - The square of yellow light that is your window (alto saxophone, electric guitar, piano & percussion)
Davies, Olivia Bettina - Intimate Distance (marimba, bass clarinet, piano & tape) 🇦🇺
Davies, Tansy - Stone Codes (percussion solo and ensemble of 14 players)
Davies, Tansy - Soul Canoe (ensemble of 9 incl. percussion)
Eötvös, Melody -Tardigradus (flute & vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Eötvös, Melody - Leafcutter (clarinet & vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Epstein, Nomi - Quartet for Percussion
Etezady, Roshanne – Hot Water, Burn Baby (flute & marimba)
Finsterer, Mary - Silva (sextet featuring vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Finsterer, Mary – New Work 2023 (percussion & harp) ^🇦🇺
Fisher, Salina - Komorebi (violin & vibraphone)
France, Sandy - Monism (violin & marimba) 🇦🇺
Fure, Ashley – Therefore I was (cello, percussion, piano)
Gifford, Brenda – Mungala (flute & percussion) ^🇦🇺
Gifford, Helen - Of Old Angkor (french horn & percussion) 🇦🇺
Glonjaric, Sara – Artefatcs #2 (soprano & percussion)
Gomez, Alice - Heartbeat (percussion quartet)
Gomez, Alice - Concertino Indio (flute & percussion)
Grenfell, Maria - Di Primavera (guitar & marimba) 🇦🇺
Grenfell, Maria – Ceol na Fidhle (violin & percussion) 🇦🇺
Gubaidulina, Sofia - Sonata for Two Percussionists (multi duo)
Harding, Charlotte - EP (cello & percusion)
Harding, Charlotte - In Dust (saxophone & percussion)
Harrison, Holly - Vibe Rant (clarinet, flute & vibraphone) ^ 🇦🇺
Harrison, Holly – Frogstomp (clarinet, flute & vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Henderson, Moya - Alenbiq (percussion quartet)
Henneman, Ig - Four Dances (harp & marimba)
Hennies, Sarah - Flourish (vibraphone duo), Lives (percussion ensemble)
Hennies, Sarah - Settle (2 players on 1 vibraphone)
Hennies, Sarah - Attachment (double bass & percussion)
Higdon, Jennifer - Zones (2-6 percussionists)
Hope, Cat - The Dying Pillow (for 6 cymbal players), The Last Days of Reality (bass flute & percussion) 🇦🇺
Hopkins, Sarah – Journey to the East (double bass & percussion) 🇦🇺
Horst, Martha C - Bam! (percussion quartet)
Joyce, Keryn - Tank Girl (marimba & vibraphone duo) 🇦🇺
Joyce, Molly - Queen (percussion duo)
Joyce, Molly - Light & Dark (flute, percussion duo with electronics)
Joyce, Molly - Uniformity (percussion duo)
Kats-Chernin, Elena - Blue Silence (bass clarinet & marimba) ^🇦🇺
Kats-Chernin, Elena - Dance of the Paper Umbrella’s (marimba & harp)
Kishino, Malika - Monochromer Garten VII (2015) (recorder or flute and percussion)
Lann, Vanessa – American Accents (percussion duo),
Lann, Vanessa - I’m Migration (six percussionists at one vibraphone)
Lann, Vanessa - Piece….of pizza (percussion quintet)
Larson, Libby - Like Blind Men Tapping in the Dark (marimba duo)
Lash, Hannah - C (vibraphone & piano), Glockenliebe (glockenspiel trio), Folksongs (percussion, harp & flute)
Likhuta, Catherine - Rondo for percussion duo (marimba & vibraphone) 🇦🇺
Lim, Liza – Ming Qi: Bright Vessel (oboe & percussion) 🇦🇺
Little, Jeanette - Shifting Worlds (percussion trio)
Lizée, Nicole – Softcore (piano, percussion & video/electronics)
Livingston, Cecilia - Troy (vibraphone quartet)
Loader, Fiona - Lorikeet Corroboree (flute, clarinet, vibraphone) ^ 🇦🇺
Mallonee, Caroline - North South East West (percussion quartet)
Marino, Jesse - The Flower Episode (percussion trio)
Mazzoli, Missy - Volume (vibraphone, wine bottle & kick BD duo)
Meredith, Anna - Connect It (body percussion)
Molitor, Claudia - Entangled (percussion trio)
Monk Feldman, Barbara - Verses (percussion & piano)
Moore, Kate – Blackbird Song (flute, bass clarinet, vibraphone) ^ 🇦🇺
Moore, Kate - Altered Geography (baritone saxophone & marimba) 🇦🇺
Morlock, Jocelyn - Quoi (percussion & piano)
Morlock, Jocelyn - Shade (cello & vibraphone)
Mundry, Isabel - Sandschleifen (string trio, piano & percussion)
Murphy, Nicole - Dissemble (clarinet & percussion) ^🇦🇺
Nas, Mayke – Digit #2 (duo)
Nemtsov, Sarah - Poker, Roulette (music in 52 playing cards for one (or two-five) percussionist(s)
Natalie Nicolas - Catch Me If You Can (marimba & saxophone) ^🇦🇺
O'Brien, Carolyn - Nocturne (contrabass flute and djembe)
O’Brien, Carolyn - Widget (viola, bass, percussion)
Oliveros, Pauline - Travelling Companions (3 + players)
Omote, Nozomi - Mariana Trench (percussion trio) 🇦🇺
Oh, Seung Won - Canonic Phase (percussion quartet)
Ortiz, Gabriela - Atlas Pumus (violin & marimba)
Palmer, Juliet - Blood Shower (music theatre for percussion duo)
Peacocke, Gemma - Death Wish (percussion quartet)
Peacocke, Gemma - All corners of these floating worlds, swept (percussion trio)
Saariaho, Kaija - Ciel Étoilé (double bass & percussion)
Saariaho, Kaija – Serenatas (cello, piano & percussion)
Sabet, Parisa – When the Roses Laugh in Ful Bloom (harp & marimba)
Saariaho, Kaija - Trois Rivieres (percussion quartet)
Scherchen-Hsiao, Tona - Yi (marimba four hands)
Shaw, Caroline – Boris Kerner (cello & flower pots)
Shaw, Caroline - Limestone and Felt (cello & marimba)
Shaw, Caroline - Taxidermy (percussion quartet)
Simpson, Nardi - Of Stars and Birds (vibraphone, clarinet, flute) ^ 🇦🇺
Simms, Bekah - Silver on Skin (percussion quartet)
Soh, Diana - All That We Seem (2 pianos, 2 percussion)
Stanley, Jane - Desert Rose (flute & vibraphone) ^🇦🇺
Stanley, Jane – Celestial Dances (percussion duo) ^🇦🇺
Strom, Kirsten - Time is Money (percussion trio)
Tabakova, Dobrinka – Frozen River Flows (vibraphone, crotales & clarinet)
Tan, Madeleine - I am fluent in silence (4 bowed vibraphones)
Thomsen, Mikaela - Minnie (percussion quartet)
Thorvaldsdottir, Anna - Aura (percussion quartet)
Tian, Leilei – Never Ending Journey (cello & glockenspiel, conga, bongos, 5 singing bowls)
Tomlinson, Vanessa - Static (percussion quartet) 🇦🇺
Tower, Joan - Percussion Quartet
Tsoupaki, Calliope – Silver Moments (2 pianos & 2 percussion)
Ward, Joanna - Cloudy or Bright (percussion ensemble)
Walshe, Jennifer - Everything you own has been taken to a depot somewhere (trio) ^, he was she was (quartet)
Wennäkoski, Lotta - Rimbalzi (percussion & bass clarinet)
Wells, Jessica – Rain Goddess (percussion & harp) 🇦🇺
Wieland, Cassie - Weeds (percussion trio)
Wilcox, Felicity - Call and? (a) Response (marimba, soprano, bass clarinet & backing track) 🇦🇺
WIlliams, Amy - Cineshape 3 (cello, percussion, flute)
Wolfe, Julia - Dark Full Ride (4 drumkits)
Young, Miriama - Iron Tongues (percussion trio), Monkish 🇦🇺
Young, Miriama - Snapdragon (baritone saxophone & percussion) 🇦🇺
^ denotes commissioned by or written for Claire