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Guitar orchestras were at their height of popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s in both Europe and North America. They played an unheralded role in the promotion of the suffragette movement, and they have seen a strong resurgence within the past twenty years. Thanks in part to the development of the Austin Classical Guitar Society's curriculum, which uses an ensemble format to teach guitar, guitar orchestras are currently increasing in popularity in schools, community groups, and outreach programs.
I. Women and guitar in ensemble
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the guitar exploded in popularity in Europe, particularly in France and Austria. Highly respected performers and composers flourished, along with publishers to meet the great public demand for guitar solos, accompaniment for other instruments, and guitar ensembles. Prior to this, in the renaissance and baroque eras, baroque guitar and its relatives such as lute and vihuela were featured as both solo and ensemble instruments. We know that women often played in these ensembles (for example, the concerto délie donne established in 1588 by the female composer-lutenist Leonora Orsini) and that music education was part of a respectable young lady's tutelage before marriage. Not only did women perform in these groups, but they composed for them as well, the most renowned from this time whose music is still extant include Orsini, Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Maddalena Casulana, Mile Bocquet, and Leonora Duarte.1
As society evolved in Europe over the next two hundred years, music education continued to play a role in the training of marriageable young ladies, and guitar was still accepted as a suitable instrument for a refined lady to learn. Yet, despite receiving an extensive music education, it was still not judged seemly for a woman to become a professional (i.e., paid) performing musician or composer. Respectable opportunities for women to perform publicly in an ensemble were very few until the arrival of the new fashionable trend of guitar and guitar-mandolin orchestras.2
The first popular large ensemble featuring guitar was established in the late 1800s, with pairing of guitar and mandolins beginning at the same time. It was in these types of groups that women were first allowed, particularly in England, to play in public. The rise in popularity of...