What is the Sirens fund?

The ABO Trust received a donation of £200,000 in 2016 from Diana Ambache to support the costs of the Sirens fund, to encourage the programming of works by historical women composers for a 10 year period.

Annual grants are allocated according to the range and value of each project. Each year up to £19,000 will be shared between 4 to 5 projects for concerts, tours, recordings and education work deemed to be doing most to advance and promote the understanding of music by women. These will be selected by a panel agreed between the ABO and Diana Ambache. Orchestras are encouraged to use Women of Note as a resource, which lists orchestral music by historical women composers. The Sirens catalogue has been updated in 2022 to include a more diverse range of historical females composers. Please note that this is not an exclusive list and please let us know if you have works which you have discovered which you suggest should be added. Diana Ambache is also available to talk about the works, please contact the ABO for further information.

The BIG LIST of Women Composers is an ever-expanding list featuring more than 5,000 women composers from pre-medieval composers to 21 century-singer-songwriters. The list is searchable for orchestral music but does not provide orchestrations.

We reserve the right not to award all the available funds (£19,000) each year.

Please see the below ABO Sirens 2022 Information brochure for further information. The application form can be found at the bottom of this page, as well as the press release detailing 2022 funding recipients.