Toronto’s Tapestry Opera has partnered with organizations across Canada to launch an innovative program focusing on female-identifying musicians.

The Women in Musical Leadership program will seek to address professional gender imbalances affecting classical music and opera. The program will serve a total of six female-identifying and non-binary conductors with full-time professional fellowships spanning over three years and participants will also partner with a senior female conductor, who will help guide them through their assigned conducting opportunities, with increasing responsibilities as the fellowship progresses.

“In my 30-year career in classical music, it has always been evident that our greatest talent is evenly split across gender lines — it remains on us to make opportunities for this talent to grow, mature and be seen and recognized in leadership roles,” Tapestry Opera’s Michael Mori told Ludwig van Toronto.

According to Tapestry Opera, there is currently only one Canadian-born female-identifying conductor working among the 12 largest Canadian symphony orchestras in Canada.