Gender in music has been explored over recent decades with growing recognition of the challenges that are faced by women in the field. There has been substantial work exploring the Western music canon but little that addresses the music of Australian women, and more specifically, repertoire written for the wind band genre. With thousands of Australian children every year starting their musical journey in their school band, this is an area that has potential for significant impact in addressing the continued gender disparity for composers. In addition, the substantial influence of the conductor in repertoire selection and promotion of the music of women cannot be denied. This article draws its insights from an action research project that explores the journeys and experiences of Australian women composers through interviews along with artistic collaborations between myself and these composers. Furthermore, Australian conductors of wind bands were surveyed to ascertain their understanding of the role that they may play in facilitating change in this area. This article addresses the barriers that composers and conductors experience, the benefits of networks, the generation of additional repertoire, and the subsequent implications for educational contexts.

近几十年来，随着人们越来越意识到该领域女性所面临的挑战，音乐中的性别问题得到了探索。在探索西方音乐经典方面已经进行了大量的工作，但是很少涉及澳大利亚女性的音乐，更具体地说，是为风乐队类型编写的曲目。每年都有成千上万的澳大利亚儿童开始他们在学校乐队中的音乐之旅，在解决作曲家持续的性别差距方面，这一领域可能会产生重大影响。另外，不能否认指挥家在曲目选择和妇女音乐推广方面的重大影响。本文来自一个行动研究项目，该研究通过访谈和本人与这些作曲家之间的艺术合作，探索了澳大利亚女作曲家的旅程和经验，从而得出了自己的见解。此外，对澳大利亚的管乐队指挥进行了调查，以了解他们对他们在促进这一领域的变化中可能发挥的作用的了解。本文介绍了作曲家和指挥家遇到的障碍，网络的好处，附加曲目的产生以及对教育环境的后续影响。