March of the Women 2026: Global Call
Excerpt from Kate Soper’s
Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say featuring Eliza Shephard and Judith Dodsworth
March of the Women 2026: Global Call
March of the Women is an artist-led initiative devoted to the commissioning, recording, performance, and publication of music by women composers. This call for scores is open to female-identifying composers based in Australia and internationally.
For the past six years, Eliza Shephard has championed the music of female composers through her project March of the Women. She has recorded, performed, and promoted over 200 works for flute in a wide range of styles and instrumentations. The initiative is dedicated to elevating women’s voices in contemporary music, expanding the repertoire, and advocating that innovative, imaginative works by female composers receive the visibility and celebration they deserve.
For the seventh year, Eliza is pleased to announce March of the Women 2026: Global Call. She invites submissions of compositions one to three minutes in length for solo flute, or flute and piano, or flute and clarinet. Works must be written by female-identifying composers.
March of the Women 2026: Global Call will result in the recording of 31 works by female-identifying composers selected through submissions via the form below.
The performers of March of the Women 2026: Global Call are Eliza Shephard on flutes, Dr Nicole Canham on clarinets, and Peter de Jager on piano.
Call for Scores
Submission Materials
· Works 1-3 minutes in length for either solo flute, flute & piano or flute & clarinet
· Legible handwritten or typeset scores in PDF format.
· Maximum 150-word composer biography.
· Maximum 150-word program notes.
· High-quality headshot.
· MIDI or live recording (encouraged, optional).
· Auxiliary instruments available include piccolo, concert flute, alto flute, bass flute, E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, A clarinet, and bass clarinet.
Eligibility
· Open to all female-identifying composers, regardless of age, nationality, or career stage.
· Previously performed and/or recorded works are allowed if they are unpublished, and the composer retains the rights.
· No in-person attendance is required; participation and communication can be entirely virtual.
· All submitted scores must be clearly legible.
Dates & Fees
· 12 February Call for Scores opens
· 12 April Call for Scores closes
· 15 May outcomes for all submissions notified
· Recording June-July, album set for release in late-2026.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A $20AUD entry fee is required per composer.
Fees support administrative and production costs associated with March of the Women 2026: Global Call.
If the entry fee presents a financial barrier, applicants may request a waiver by contacting:
marchofthewomen@gmail.com
Eliza Shephard
〰️
March of the Women
〰️
2026
〰️
Call for Scores
〰️
Eliza Shephard 〰️ March of the Women 〰️ 2026 〰️ Call for Scores 〰️
Please Note
· A total of 31 works will be selected for this recording project.
· Artistic decisions are final.
· All scores must be emailed through to marchofthewomen@gmail.com to complete your application.
· Submissions not selected will not receive feedback.
· Scores that do not adhere to the instrumentation will not be considered.
· Submitted scores must be typeset or clearly handwritten in PDF format.
· Scores must be final and complete; works will be recorded as they stand in the submitted PDF.
· All selected works will be available via Eliza Shephard’s website for purchase and will be listed for $20AUD. The composer will receive 70% of the purchase cost ($14AUD), with the remaining 30% going into taxes and hosting costs.
· Composers always retain full copyright and moral rights in their work, in accordance with Australian copyright law.
· Final Note - This is not a commissioning project: you are not being asked to compose a new work for submission. You are invited to showcase miniatures that you may have written already, or for personal creative or experimental projects, and anything in between. You are welcome to create something new, however Eliza recognises the time required for the generation of new work. She encourages the celebration of musical gems left unheard or forgotten.
Call for Scores
〰️
Apply Now
〰️
March of the Women
〰️
Apply Now
〰️
Call for Scores 〰️ Apply Now 〰️ March of the Women 〰️ Apply Now 〰️
Call for Scores Submission
March of the Women is an artist-led initiative devoted to the commissioning, recording, performance, and publication of music by women composers. This call for scores is open to female-identifying composers based in Australia and internationally.
For the past six years, Eliza Shephard has championed the music of female composers through her project March of the Women. She has recorded, performed, and promoted over 200 works for flute in a wide range of styles and instrumentations. The initiative is dedicated to elevating women’s voices in contemporary music, expanding the repertoire, and advocating that innovative, imaginative works by female composers receive the visibility and celebration they deserve.
For the seventh year, Eliza is pleased to announce March of the Women 2026: Global Call. She invites submissions of compositions one to three minutes in length for solo flute, or flute and piano, or flute and clarinet. Works must be written by female-identifying composers.
March of the Women 2026: Global Call will result in the recording of 31 works by female-identifying composers selected through submissions via the form below.
The performers of March of the Women 2026 are Eliza Shephard on flutes, Dr Nicole Canham on clarinets, and Peter de Jager on piano.
MOTW 2026 Performers
Eliza Shephard
Founder, FlutesABC Young Performer of the Year Eliza Shephard is a vibrant flutist and is paving her way as a performing artist, collaborator, and curator. She is in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician and as a fervent contemporary musician has established a course on experimental flute techniques, ‘The Extended Flute’. Eliza is a specialist on the Glissando Headjoint.
Eliza is passionate about amplifying the voices of female musicians and composers and her annual ‘March of the Women’ recording project was instigated in 2020. The number of works recorded under the March of the Women banner is over 200 pieces.
She has received many accolades for the boldness and imagination she brings to her projects and frequently collaborates with artists from a large variety of artforms including opera, circus, and dance to create new works and imaginative renditions of familiar repertoire.
Eliza is a Teaching Associate and Sessional Academic at Monash University and is a recipient of the Ian Potter Emerging Performers Fellowship.
She is proud to be a Haynes Artist.
Dr. Nicole Canham
ClarinetsDr Nicole Canham is a clarinettist and tarogato player committed to the commissioning and performance of new music. Nicole’s passion for chamber music has led to performances in Mexico, the USA, France, the UK and Belgium.
Orchestral work highlights have included work with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She has commissioned many new works, and her repertoire includes pieces written for her by Aaron Wyatt, Elena Kats-Chernin, Nick Tsiavos, Drew Crawford, Robert Davidson, Su Min Lee, Paula Matthusen, Carlos Lopez and Rodrigo Sigal.
Nicole is a member of the Monash Art Ensemble, regularly premiering and recording new works by diverse artists at events including the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. She is currently working on a VCE clarinet repertoire project, recording Australian works for clarinet and piano composed after 1990.
Peter de Jager
PianoPeter de Jager is a Melbourne-based pianist, harpsichordist, and composer. He is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and continuo player. His repertoire spans the entire gamut of European classical music, standard, historical, and contemporary, as well as cabaret and music theatre.
Peter studied piano at the Australian National Academy of Music and harpsichord and composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has played as soloist and orchestral keyboardist with many Australian Orchestras, and he plays and sings regularly with the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir.
Performance highlights include being the inaugural winner of the Australian International Chopin Competition, held in Canberra; participating three times in the Lucerne Festival Academy, playing modern chamber, orchestral, and piano duo works under the direction of Pierre Boulez; being awarded the Freedman Fellowship, allowing him to commission Chris Dench's 98-minute Piano Sonata, the performance of which in 2017 won him an APRA AMCOS Art Music Award; performing the complete works for piano and harpsichord of Iannis Xenakis at the Melbourne Festival, to rave reviews; and co-writing Reception: The Musical with writer/actor Bethany Simons and from 2014 to 2021 performing it together over 70 times around Australia
Peter is pursuing a PhD in performance focusing mostly on 16th and 17th century keyboard music, as a way to kickstart his Historical Concert Series (which currently is projected to contain 46 90-minute programs), and is continuing his own studies into Just Intonation and Arabic classical music through learning to play the oud.