As muses, they were always in demand. For centuries, however, creating art and music themselves was no less unthinkable for women than entering politics, playing soccer, or flying airplanes. “Giving birth” is, after all, indisputably their domain: Despite all adversities, strong female musicians—following their calling—have created music of unique beauty over the centuries. Yet—even in an era of quotas and gender politics—they have not been, and still are not, as visible as they are numerous.

Hildegard von Bingen, Alma Mahler, Nina Simone, Kate Bush, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainey are just a few examples of women who were sometimes celebrated, sometimes forgotten, and sometimes only recognized posthumously. They have overcome hurdles and scaled unimagined heights. In the program FEMALE, heroines from the Middle Ages and the Classical era, pioneers of the blues, “Women in Jazz,” and contemporary female songwriters—together with Stefanie Boltz—take the stage.

Stefanie Boltz and her trio aim to forge their own individual paths. Collage-like snapshots from the lives and times of these artists bring us closer to their lives, reflections, and longings just as much as their works do. Stefanie Boltz has become an indispensable part of the German-speaking concert scene. For years, she explored the boundaries of the voice-bass duo “Le Bang Bang” with Sven Faller, and for the past eight years, she has also been in the spotlight under her own name as a bandleader and songwriter. In addition, she runs a concert agency and curates her own festival formats; she is currently the artistic director of “Alpenrausch” at Gasteig HP8 in Munich. With “Female,” she releases a project that has been a labor of love for a long time, bringing together the experiences of being a woman and being an artist.