Marin Alsop Launches Second Global Social Media Campaign #PurpleBaton, Advancing Women Conductors During International Women’s Month

Marin Alsop Launches Second 

Global Social Media Campaign #PurpleBaton,

Advancing Women Conductors During International Women’s Month

(photo available here, credit Brandon Patoc)

Hundreds of Leading Classical Artists and Organizations to Join Movement

Supporters of Women on the Podium May Order their #PurpleBaton at batonz.com

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2026 – Legendary conductor Marin Alsop, in partnership with the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship (TACF), will lead #PurpleBaton, a global social media movement advancing the careers of women conductors in classical music. The campaign takes place during March, National Women’s History Month. Alsop, the first woman to be named music director of a major U.S. orchestra and a defining conductor of our time, will be joined by hundreds of leading classical organizations and artists sharing videos and images with a purple baton. The campaign, gathered under the hashtag #PurpleBaton, advocates for greater representation of women music directors and conductors.

Anyone interested in supporting the campaign may order their own purple baton for $15 on batonz.com/purplebaton, and is encouraged to use the hashtag #PurpleBaton on social media.

 “The #PurpleBaton movement signals to the world support of women conductors on the podium, and women in leadership roles across all disciplines,” explains Alsop. “Those who take part promise to be active allies in shaping a future rich with possibility. They’ll show up for exceptional women in leadership across classical music, affirming that there is a vital and engaged global audience for communities, organizations, and presenters committed to building a more equitable field.”

According to the 2023-24 Donne Foundation report “Equality & Diversity in Global Repertoire,” there is a concerning gender disparity in the classical music world. A survey of chief conductors or music directors for orchestras showed that only 10.1% worldwide were women.

Purple is an official color of Women's History Month, which takes place every year in March. In 2025, the first year Alsop created the campaign, over 100 conductors and organizations joined the cause with #PurpleBaton social media posts, including Nefeli Chadouli, Soo Jin Chung, Laura Jackson, Enrique Mazzola, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Leonard Slatkin, as well as the Curtis Institute of Music, the New York Philharmonic, Peabody Institute, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

Alsop uses her platform, as well as her insights into the challenges she faced earlier in her career, to create opportunities for all conductors. To further promote and encourage more women in the field, with the support of Tomio Taki, she created the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship in 2002, which has provided intensive coaching, mentoring, and support to 42 women conductors to date, as they advance in their professional careers. It has also provided mentorship to 50 additional conductors. Currently, 32 Music Director or Chief Conductor titles are held by Taki Alsop Conducting Fellows with orchestras around the world. 

This past January, Alsop was appointed the Jury Chair of the Cliburn International Competition for Conductors, the first major international conducting competition in North America, launched in partnership with the Houston Symphony and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. 

Each season, Alsop continues to set records and shatter glass ceilings. On International Women’s Day, March 8, Alsop leads the Webern Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna. Her appearances in March also include engagements with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in concert in Poland; the Philharmonia Orchestra in Canterbury, London, and Manchester; and a U.S. tour with The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Building on her long association with Carnegie Hall, Alsop is a Perspectives Artist for the 2025-26 season, joining an elite group of top performers across disciplines who share their philosophies through a curated series of events. Also this season, Alsop will conduct the world premiere of Seven Dreams of Gaudí. The monumental symphonic choral work by composer Olivia Pérez-Collellmir will be part of a featured Barcelona event marking the centennial of the death of visionary architect Antoni Gaudí and the long-anticipated completion of the Tower of Jesus, the tallest of the 18 towers of the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. 

Alsop is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival.

Learn more about #PurpleBaton at marinalsop.com/projects/purplebaton/ and takialsop.org. 

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Media contact: 

Allison Van Etten
Vice President
8VA Music Consultancy
NYC • Los Angeles • Berlin