A bravura bouquet for SLO Symphony’s first female conductor

When Laura Jackson raises her conductor’s baton Saturday night, she’ll make history by becoming the first woman to lead the San Luis Obispo Symphony in its 55-year history.

Hard to believe it’s taken this long, right? Yet it’s not just San Luis Obispo playing catch-up. Consider this statistic from a 2013 report in The New York Times: “According to the League of American Orchestras, of the 103 ensembles with the biggest budgets, 12 have female conductors; just one of the top-tier 22 is led by a woman.”

That gender gap doesn’t seem to faze Jackson, who is music director of the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Most of the (job) searches I’ve ever been in, I’m often the only woman,” she told The Tribune. “Perhaps other people see that as an uphill battle. I’ve always seen it as kind of cool.”

We’re honored to welcome Jackson to town, and to mark this long-in-coming occasion, we’re composing a bravura bouquet for the conductor. We’ll add a round of applause for the SLO Symphony for arranging her visit; we hope it inspires more female musicians to take up the baton.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 3:52 PM with the headline "A bravura bouquet for SLO Symphony’s first female conductor."