Music careers

The German Women's Jazz Orchestra is off to Arab nations at the beginning of July. The formation was founded by Deutsche Welle and the German Music Council last year and consists of members of the German National Jazz Orchestra (Bundesjazzorchester).

Deutsche Welle spoke to saxophonist and band leader Angelika Niescier about her compositions for the tour, the changing role of women in music and women's soccer in the Middle East.

Deutsche Welle: You're headed to the Middle East again. Where are you going this time around?

Angelika Niescier: Well, that's an evolving process. The plan has changed. We were supposed to be going to Syria, but that hasn't worked out. We'll be giving performances in Beirut, Lebanon; Amman, Jordan; Gaza and Birzeit, in the Palestinian Territories; and Arbil, Iraq.

I'm currently writing some compositions for the concerts, and hopefully we'll be doing some workshops.

What will you be performing?

One and a half hours of Niescier compositions in big-band style.

Why are you traveling to this region?

It started in 2010. The German Women's Jazz Orchestra was founded by Deutsche Welle and the German Music Council to play in Bahrain, at the Women's Soccer Cup Arabia 2010. We played some of my compositions, and I was also commissioned to write the anthem for the opening ceremony. That was the first time we performed together. Following that, I thought it would be a pity if that were the only time we were to ever play together. I contacted some of the Goethe Institutes [German cultural organization with bases around the world] and they felt it was a good idea to have an all-women's orchestra they could send out to a few different regions. So, we went to Cairo in March of this year - for the Cairo Jazz Festival.

It was a tremendous experience, really mind-blowing - we were playing at the first big cultural event following the revolution that started this year. There was a very special, unique atmosphere; the people wanted to do something for their country, for their lives. They really appreciated our performance and were very enthusiastic.

Why this upcoming tour of other Arab countries now?

It was the Goethe Institute's decision. If you send an all-women's band on tour, that's a statement. You can show there's an issue there - that's it's all women, but you don't have to discuss it so directly. It's not like a film that shows how women live here [in Germany] or there, in some Arab countries. It's a statement to show that these things are possible, and that they're good, and that they just "are." But we try not to make such a big deal about it - it's simply a statement.

The other thing is that it's not girls playing light jazz here. It may be an issue during the first two minutes of the performance - that we're all women, but after that, it's all about the music, and not about men and women.

Of course, women in music are an issue, though, even here in Europe because you just don't find many high-quality, women's orchestras. They're quite rare - because there are few professional women musicians to begin with.

Why do you think that is?

How much time do you have? [laughs] In the conservatories, there are female students, but it's not 50-50, at least not in jazz and improvised music. If we leave out the singers, then it's maybe like 30 percent women to 70 percent men, depending on the instrument.

But something happens between graduating from music school and entering the professional realm. So there are very few high-quality, highly successful female musicians in the realm of jazz. In Germany, there are probably fewer than ten; in fact, I could probably rattle them off on one hand.

What holds them back - the glass ceiling, greater reluctance to perform, a lack of confidence?

I'm not sure. I've thought about it a lot and at some point, I had the feeling that some of my colleagues just don't want to deal with all the stress this "job" entails. That's just my opinion, but studies should be done on the matter.

It is stressful to maintain this level of professionalism, and maybe some women just want to teach music and focus on their families. It's certainly not a piece of cake. At some point, though, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman - it's just about developing the music and the arts.

But my colleagues and I feel we do need to be role models, and have to do workshops and encourage girls to become musicians.

How would you describe your compositions?

Well, they're all different, of course. What I try to do is merge really thoughtful, written, composed material with very emotional improvisation, so that the listener has to keep guessing about what has been composed and what is being improvised.

What or who inspires you most?

That's a tough question. Other composers, and other music, like Stravinsky, modern classical or new music, Alban Berg, Luigi Nono, and of course jazz heroes like John Coltrane, Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton.

But I'm also open to the other arts. One constant source on inspiration is painter Barnett Newman's works, but I also try to keep up on modern dance. I think the arts inspire each other and help each other to evolve.

What was it like being in Bahrain last year? Why the combination of soccer and music?

Well, it was Steffi Jones' thing. She's the President of the Organizing Committee of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 and three years ago, she started working on trying to get the public more interested in women's soccer and to promote the idea that women and girls can compete in soccer on a professional level. Germany is, after all, the women's world champion team. Steffi Jones traveled all over the world to promote women's soccer in general.

But in Arab countries, you have more issues with that than here. In those countries, it's not just the popularity of women's soccer; sometimes women aren't even allowed to play sports or soccer games, much less compete. So it was a big deal to have this Arab Women's Soccer Cup, and there were teams that participated that had been founded only three months beforehand. Other teams, like the Jordanian one, had existed for several years, and ultimately won, so they will be participating in the Women's World Cup in Germany this year.

It's more than a sports issue, more than a gender issue; it's political. So Deutsche Welle and Deutscher Musikrat decided to support this with music because there were enough female musicians to form the German Women's Jazz Orchestra.

You spoke earlier about there being so few professional women musicians. What would your advice be to girls or young women thinking about a music career?

Just do it. Don't think "oh, maybe I can't do it" or "it's so tough." Of course it's tough, but it's tough everywhere and in every profession. Of course, maybe the art thing, or improvised music thing, is harder than, say, being a biology teacher. Maybe. You are, after all, doing the job pretty much 24/7, thinking about and developing things around the clock. But if you have a need to express yourself, and the need is strong enough, then just do it.

Don't worry about how to juggle it with a family later - it's all doable and all works out if you want it to. I have enough colleagues who juggle their families and a career in music. You just have to give it your all when you're studying, and later, it's all about your attitude toward it. Just do it now, and don't postpone it. You have to be there, be present, be on the scene, and play and rehearse, develop and compose from the very beginning.

One last, and big, question: why does the world need music?

Why does the world need politics, why do people need to talk to each other? In my opinion, it's a basic human need to perform and to enjoy the arts - and not just in the sense of having fun, and everything is lovely. Music and the arts are a reflection of what it means to be human, of humanity in society, and that's why we need them. We need food and homes, but we also need music.

Interview: Louisa Schaefer
Editor: Greg Wiser