Sandra found all the scores she used for her first CD on IMSLP, the International Music Score Library Project. This helped her with the monetary side of the issue, however, IMSLP requires people to know the names of composers which can be overwhelming for people looking for new music to try. It also does not say what instrument the score is for which leads to more confusion and frustration. Taking all this into account, Professor Sipes and Sandra decided to go through IMSPL composer by composer, piece by piece, and compile a list of all the pieces written by female composers on piano. They decided that Professor Sipes would start at the bottom of the list with names starting with the letter “Z” and Sandra would start at the top with names starting with the letter “A”. With a plan in place they both got to work on this new project they called Piano Music She Wrote.

Shortly after they began, Professor Sipes and Sandra decided to take their project one step further by helping facilitate the music learning process. Many of these pieces do not have any recordings which can make learning them difficult for people that struggle with audiating, hearing a piece in their head, or sight reading. To help people with this, Professor Sipes and Sandra decided to each pick a piece to learn and record each week. These would then be uploaded to a YouTube channel they created to go along with their database.

One of the biggest challenges throughout this project has been funding. When asked, Professor Sipes described the project as a “labor of love”. They ask for a donation when people access their database, but not everyone donates. Marketing and upkeep of their website and the project as a whole has not been easy, but they do what they can because they care. For them, it is not about the money, it is about making these pieces of music accessible to everyone and getting people curious about these different composers. Since the start of Piano Music She Wrote, people around the world have started similar projects sharing female compositions. There have even been people that have reached out to them and offered to transcribe pieces that they have found. Professor Sipes made it clear that she is not sure whether Piano Music She Wrote was the cause of these projects starting, but that she does not care. All she cares about is that the music is being shared and is reaching people.

The main goal of Piano Music She Wrote is to make female compositions accessible, however, it is not the only goal. It is also to get people curious. They want people asking questions and sharing information with each other so that musicians focus on building a sense of global community rather than competing with each other. The point is to create respect and support for women without comparing them to men. Women composers were not forgotten because they weren’t as good as men. They weren’t heard in the first place because they weren’t men. In the past, women did not have access to the same education as men, the same respect as men, or the same opportunities as men. They were at a disadvantage for a reason they could not control: their gender.

Piano Music She Wrote is meant to educate people and bring them together in a non-competitive manner. Professor Sipes puts it plainly saying, “We’re doing it because it should be done, not because we are trying to beat someone else at it or be better than men”. It doesn’t matter if one composer is better than another. It matters that all of their compositions are equally accessible to everyone. She also says that, “One of my big things is I just want more people to feel like they have a voice and that people want to hear them”. There are no requirements to music-making. Anyone that wants to make music can and there is nothing that is stopping them other than societal expectations and judgements. Professor Sipes wants people feel brave enough to share their voices with others, and believes music should feel like a safe place to do that.

Since starting Piano Music She Wrote, Professor Sipes and Sandra have been in contact with amazing people from all around the world. One day, they got an email from a school in Israel saying that the students had recently put on a concert where all the music played was composed by women. They asked Professor Sipes and Sandra if they would watch the video of the concert and tell ones were not on IMSLP. They then asked if it was alright for them, with parental permission, to send a video of the students performing the pieces that were not on IMSLP for Professor Sipes and Sandra to post. Knowing that these children from another part of the world were learning about female composers and had heard of their project left Professor Sipes speechless. She was thrilled to know that people, especially young kids, cared about these composers and wanted to learn about their music.

Another experience that especially impacted Professor Sipes had to do with a woman by the name of Olga Nazaykinskaya. Olga composed one of the first pieces during this project that Professor Sipes fell in love with. It was a series of six Russian pieces that Professor Sipes wanted to record for their YouTube channel, but she wanted to find out more about this woman first. After a lot of research, she finally found Olga by contacting her niece on Facebook. She got in contact with Olga, who was now living somewhere in Europe and told her that she wanted to record her pieces. When Olga responded, she said that she did not compose anymore and that she had written those pieces back when she was a teenager. She did not believe that someone actually wanted to play her pieces. Professor Sipes sent Olga a link of her playing Olga’s pieces and Olga responded saying that she was in tears. She never thought that she would hear someone else play her pieces. Professor Sipes performed these pieces again at a concert and was approached by a man saying, “Tell me more about this Nazaykinskaya guy” and Professor Sipes smiled. She explained that she did not really compose anymore. The man told her that the pieces were beautiful regardless. Professor Sipes later messaged Olga, telling her this, and she responded saying that maybe it was time for her to start composing again.

It is stories like Olga’s and the students in Israel that let Professor Sipes and Sandra know that their project is making a difference. They have even started asking current female composers to submit their pieces to be uploaded. At the start of this journey, Professor Sipes barely knew anything about female composers. Now, with every piece of music that is uploaded to the Piano Music She Wrote database, Professor Sipes includes a short biography about the composer. They have not only found a way to make female composers’ works more accessible, but they have rewritten these composers’ lives into the history books they were once erased from.

When asked if she had any advice for musicians in general, Professor Sipes replied, “Never lose sight of what the most important thing is about music…it’s about playing music and sharing music with others”. She explained how there is too much of a focus on perfectionism and gatekeeping for who can perform. This mindset can cripple musicians to the point where they no longer enjoy the music they are making. Society has made people think that only the best can perform music legitimately and this is not true. Music is important for everyone. Play for people. Perform for people. The only way to get to that point is if one becomes comfortable with imperfection. Only then can one use their voice through music.

“The point of the music is to express the music and to share yourself in that way with others.”

~Professor Erica Sipes

To learn more about Piano Music She Wrote visit www.pianomusicshewrote.com/