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Conducting Change — Georgia Stitt’s Journey to Uplift Women and Nonbinary Musicians


Photo by Kevyn Major Howard


Georgia Stitt is a composer/lyricist, music director, pianist, and music producer. She's written many original musicals including Snow Child, Samantha Spade, Ace Detective and Mosaic. She was the music director of 13: The Musical, which was released on Netflix in 2022, and the on-set music supervisor for the Anna Kendrick/Jeremy Jordan film The Last Five Years. She has previously worked as the vocal coach for the NBC hit show America’s Got Talent. She was the assistant music director for the NBC TV special Clash of the Choirs, the on-camera vocal coach for the NBC reality TV show Grease: You’re The One That I Want, and the Production Music Coordinator for the Disney/ABC TV musical Once Upon A Mattress starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett. On Broadway she was the assistant conductor of Little Shop of Horrors and the associate conductor of the Encores! production of Can-Can starring Patti LuPone. In 2014 she played a nun and served of the music team for NBC’s The Sound Of Music Live! with Carrie Underwood and Audra McDonald and in 2021 she made a cameo appearance in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film Tick, Tick… Boom! Georgia is also the Founder and President of Maestra, an activist organization for women and nonbinary musicians in the theater. 

 

Listen to the full episode HERE.

 

LINKS

 

ON THIS EPISODE

[00:02:05]  Georgia Stitt on what she’s most passionate about

[00:02:38]  Georgia Stitt on her early interest in music

[00:04:13]  Georgia Stitt on when her interest in theater started

[00:06:56]  Georgia Stitt on the musical styles she likes to work in

[00:08:41]  Georgia Stitt on her first big break

[00:12:18]  Georgia Stitt on her first Broadway show

[00:15:18]  Georgia Stitt on becoming a Music Director in theater

[00:18:47]  Georgia Stitt on her biggest challenges in her varying roles in the theater

[00:21:43]  Georgia Stitt on some of the shows she’s worked on

[00:25:18]  Georgia Stitt on working on the Sound of Music Live TV special

[00:27:56]  Georgia Stitt on where she draws inspiration for the shows she composes

[00:32:11]  Georgia Stitt on the challenges of mounting a musical

[00:35:41]  Georgia Stitt on founding Maestra

[00:42:07]  Georgia Stitt on building Maestra to a worldwide organization

[00:49:50]  Georgia Stitt on the Broadway show Suffs featuring an all-women orchestra

[00:53:54]  Georgia Stitt on the ideal person to join Maestra 

[00:57:20]  Georgia Stitt on how people can support Maestra

[01:00:33]  Georgia Stitt on her dream for herself and her dream for woman and GNCNB people

 

TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters, Amy and Nancy Harrington, the founders of The Passionistas Project. We've created an inclusive sisterhood where passion driven women come to get support, find their purpose, and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world. On every episode, we discuss the unique ways in which each woman is following her passions, talk about how she defines success, and explore her path to breaking down the barriers that women too often face.

 

Today, we're talking with Georgia Stitt. An award winning composer, lyricist, music producer, pianist, and activist. Her original musicals include Snow Child, Big Red Sun, The Janger Year, The Big Boom, The Water, Mosaic, and Samantha Spade. And Ace Detective, which won, oh, Samantha Spade, Ace Detective. One title, which won Outstanding New Musical from National Youth Theatre.

 

Georgia has released four albums of her music, A Quiet Revolution, My Lifelong Love, This Ordinary Thursday, and Alphabet City Cycle. She has a large library of published choral music, including The Promise of Light and Deeprofundus, did I say that right? And it's currently producing a new album of theatrical art songs and an oratory, oratorio called The Universal, this oratorio called The Circling Universe.

 

Georgia is the founder and president of Meister Music, an organization for women and non binary theater musicians and is the leadership, and is in leadership at the Dramatist Guild and the Recording Academy. She teaches musical theater writing at Princeton University. Oof, I'm, I'm tired from that. I don't know how you do it.

That was long.

 

Please welcome Georgia Stitt. Hi, everybody.

 

Georgia: Hi, Amy and Nancy. Thank you for having me.

 

Passionistas: Oh, we're so excited to talk to you. We're big music and theater geeks, so we love it. Um, it's kind of obvious, I think, from your bio, but uh, what are you most passionate about?  

 

Georgia: I say, I, in preparing the answer to that question, I'm, I'm most passionate about music and musicians.

 

You know, the, um, music itself and the people who make it, people who have, uh, devoted their lives to becoming musicians and think like musicians and work like musicians. Um, but yeah, everything about, uh, music and the way it is used in storytelling is really what I think about all the time.

 

Passionistas: So let's go way back. When did that passion start? Were you into music as a kid?

 

Georgia: I was. So yeah, the, the very first story, I mean, well, the very first story I have, there's a picture of my great grandmother who played the piano and me sitting on her lap with my hands on top of her hands. That's a great family memento that we have.

 

But, um, but the story that was told to me is that, uh, my parents had a babysitter and they would drop me at her house sometimes and she had a piano. And then when they picked me up, um, the babysitter would say, she just was at the piano the whole time, like pushing the keys and trying to figure out, picking out melodies and trying to figure out.

 

And then I asked, can we get one of those? Can we have a piano? Um, And so I asked for piano lessons. I started when I was seven and I really took to it. It made sense to me. My major in college was music theory and composition, which is one of those courses, course studies that some people are like, it never made sense to me.

 

And for me, it was just, it made total sense. It was like all the math fit together. Um, and so figuring out the, where the, the science of music theory, the sort of math of it and the creativity of music theory fit together, uh, Always was really, really intriguing to me. And that was, I was, I was playing piano all through childhood and doing well at piano recitals and piano competitions and things like that.

 

And then in high school and college, I started to realize that the music I was playing had been written by someone and what do you have to do to be the person who writes the music? Um, and so I started taking composition lessons and then studied that all the way through college and grad school.

 

Passionistas: And then where did, where did the theater part come in?

 

Georgia: Oh, the theater part. No, this is actually a fun story too. Uh, I was playing classical piano and, um, studying composition in college. I mean, I always did musical theater on the side in high school. Like I was in the school musicals and that sort of thing played in the pit or sang in the stage, whatever. Um, never, I was never a singer.

 

I'm not a star in that, right, but I had fun doing it with friends. Um, and then when I was in college, I think it was after my sophomore year in college, I had studied conducting and my conducting teacher said, uh, we're looking for a pianist at this summer stock theater where I work as a conductor. Would you have any interest in coming to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the summer and working on musicals and living on the beach?

 

And I said, yes. Sure. Um, and that summer, uh, you know, summer stock is we, you do not in the, on my case, you do nine musicals in 11 weeks. So you rehearse one musical during the day and then you perform the musical you rehearsed last week. And then once a week it shifts over to the next and it's exhausting and really fun.

 

Um, and no budget, bare bones. Everybody's also working in the kitchen, doing the dishes and mowing the grass and all, whatever, not really mowing the grass, but. Um, uh, and I was exhausted, but I, it was also, it, it aligned with, um, my, my awareness that somebody was a composer. And so every week I would play, you know, one week it would be, An old operetta, like The Merry Widow, and the next week it would be Guys and Dolls, and then the next week it would be Maury Yeston's Phantom, and the next week, you know, just totally different styles of music.

 

And I was like, how does, and sometimes they were piano reductions, and sometimes they were little orchestrations, and sometimes they were symphonic orchestrations, like just trying to figure out how to read the scores. And I thought, I want to do that. I want to be the person who makes it. I want to, you know, I just don't want to play it.

 

I want to make it. And I went home and said, I want to write a musical. So junior and senior year, um, I actually wrote an opera first in college, but, um, but I think that really was because my teacher didn't, didn't know anything about musical theater. And he was like, I can't help you with that, but we can write an opera.

 

Okay. Anyway, um, none of it was good until, until, until. Graduate school and early professional, when you start to really understand the business and understand what your voice is as a, as a composer. But, um, but I mean, I think for any creative person, you have to do it badly for a long time before you start to do it well.

 

Passionistas: Totally. So what kind of music, you know, opera being, being kind of guided that way by your professor aside, what kind of music Did you gravitate toward and as you were writing, how did you start to define what your voice was?

Georgia: That's a really great question. Um, I think because of my classical, my classical background and, um, and because I had studied so much piano, um, my earliest work, really sort of at the center of my voice still is piano driven, um, lyrical work, uh, I, I did a lot of setting poetry to music and, uh, part of the process of moving from the classical space into the theater space was learning How to be a pop musician, you know, that, um, I'm married to a musician.

 

My husband grew up as a rock and roll musician, sort of made his way to classical music and I'm the opposite. And we, we talk sometimes about how we met in the middle, like the things that come really easily to me, sight reading and, um, reducing scores and things like that come quite easily to me. And for him, that was a skill he had to learn.

 

And he was really good at, Lead sheets and jazz improvisation and things like that. And that was something I had to learn. Um, but then we got to the middle and we're like, okay, now we both speak the language, but we, we didn't come to it the same way. Um, so I think my music now is, um, it, wow, I don't really, it's musical theater, pop accessible, but I also can write art songs and choral music.

 

And it comes from a place where. Um, the, the storytelling, the narrative. I don't want it to be inaccessible. I want a listener to feel emotionally connected to it. Um, and, and that it's complicated and surprising enough that it, it isn't just like, Oh, I've heard this. I've heard this a hundred times. It feels unique to, um, to the sound of this piece, but that also, um, it's not so unique that your brain explodes because you don't know how to process it.

 

Passionistas: That's great. Um, what was your first big break? In your career.

 

Georgia: My first big break. Well, I mean, I think that, I mean, I wouldn't call that a big break. Oh, no, I have a good story for this. I was going to say the first break was the conducting teacher saying, hey, come work at this theater. And that job came that way.

 

And for the record, that conducting teacher also went on to have a life as a conductor. And he's now the conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. His name is John Morris Russell. And he has, you know, The people that you meet when you're younger, you often grow up together. So he's commissioned me as a composer now and he's premiered an orchestral piece that I wrote.

 

So it's really wonderful the relationships that you make that you all continue to grow together and continue to work together throughout your career. Um, but when I finished college, I took a year before I went to grad school and I, um, I worked at Goodspeed, Goodspeed Musicals, which is a regional theater in Connecticut and, uh, While I was there, I came on as a music intern.

 

I think I made some like, like, I don't know, 300 a week or something like that. Maybe not even that much. I don't remember. You know, it was a long time ago, but basically they provided housing and your, your salary was just to pay for your food while you did all the grunt work. Um, and I, so I was a music intern and I remember spending a lot of time at the copy machine and a lot of time making coffee.

 

And the very first musical that I worked on as an intern was a revival of Gentleman Prefer Blondes. Um, and that piece. As luck would have it, transferred to Broadway. Um, and in the history of Goodspeed, that's a rare thing. It has happened before, but that was a rare thing. I just happened to be there when that happened for that show.

 

And so the show went to Broadway and all of the senior staff at the theater went to Broadway with it. And so suddenly I got promoted. so much for joining us today, and we hope to see you again soon. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I worked on six musicals while I was there, and only the first one was I interned, and then the second one I had a title, and then the second one also transferred to Broadway.

 

Like, I don't think that's happened since then. And in that time, um, I then I was able to sub on the show, like a sub, you know, fills in for the regular musician when the regular musician isn't available to do it. And, um, and so I had to join the musicians union and, uh, you know, I had a Broadway credit. And then I came back and worked on the shows that were coming into Goodspeed and all of those shows were written by composers that I admired and respected.

 

And so at the end of that year, when I moved to New York and came to grad school, I had all these relationships. First of all, I had a Broadway show on my resume and I had, um, all of these relationships with the composers we were studying in school. And I was like, Oh yeah, I have that person's cell phone number.

 

And, um, uh, so I would, it, you know, it didn't turn into a fast track necessarily. But it, uh, I still have relationships with those composers. We're colleagues now. But, um, but it, it really was about, uh, figuring out how, you know, in that case, accepting the internship for no money, because it put me in the place to get that experience and meet those people. And then that carried me through grad school as well.

 

Passionistas: So, what was the show that you first went to Broadway with, and what was that first night when you finally got to perform? Was that, what's that Broadway moment?

 

Georgia: Oh, they're fun stories. Um, the, the show that I, the very first one was called Swingin on a Star.

 

Um, it had been at their, their second theater, and then it transferred to Broadway, and I got to play it on Broadway. It was a keyboard book and, um, there was a moment near the end of the show where they, they, they passed around solos. Like everybody got to take a solo, the brass player, the bass player, like drummer, whatever, everybody took a solo.

 

And there was a moment they were like, Georgia, you're solo. And I was like, I don't know what to do. And I just remember on Broadway being like, this is not going well. And I got to the end and the conductor was like, okay, okay. You did that. Um, but then I have another funny Broadway story, which is, uh, around the same time I subbed also on, uh, In the Pit on a show, a revival of Annie.

 

Um, and I'm sure, I mean, really, who doesn't know Annie? But there's a moment, um, at the top of It's a Hard Knock Life, and you'll know if I go, Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Then somebody goes, it's a hard knock life. And the song starts there. So that ding, ding, ding, ding, ding was my job. And that's called a vamp.

 

You're just waiting. You're waiting for the moment to happen on stage where the conductor gives you the cue to go. And so I'm watching the conductor playing ding, ding, ding. And then when it goes, it's a hard knock life, on the word life, you have to, Kick a pedal that changes the sound and you have to pay, turn a page.

 

There's just a lot that has to happen. So you're waiting, waiting, waiting, knowing as soon as he goes like that, you have a lot of action that you have to respond to. And my foot started shaking because I was so nervous. There's so much on me. And so it goes ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And he goes, it's a hard knock.

 

And I, I hit the pedal, but because I was shaking, I hit it twice. And so it went, it's a hard knock.

 

Because I had hit a sound called Angels Descending. And I looked up and the conductor was laughing, everyone else was laughing, and then I fixed it and we went on. And it was one of those moments that for me was so enormous and, you know, like that's it, my career's over. And in fact, it was like two seconds in a Broadway show and it fixed itself and it went on.

 

Um, but I do like to tell that story because it, uh, it felt like a tragedy in the moment. It was actually fine.

 

Passionistas: That's when you're glad that theater isn't recorded.

 

Georgia: Angels Descending. Right. Well, now it, now it would be on YouTube for sure if it had happened now. With like 80 million views. Angels Descending. Georgia State ruins Broadway.

 

Passionistas: I'm eternally grateful I grew up in the era before cell phones. Right? Right?

 

Georgia: Me too. Me too.

 

Passionistas: So you worked your way up to becoming music director, so talk a little bit about that journey and what a music director does. Yep.

 

Georgia: Um, there's no direct path. I mean, the music director, and now there's a title called Music Supervisor too, um, the, you're the person in charge of the music department on the show.

 

And, uh, when I was starting out, what that really meant is that you played the piano and then you conducted the band when the band joined. And now the job has gotten so much bigger because there's so much more technology in the making of a Broadway show, including in The Pit. Um, and so there's a lot of coordinating sound designers and keyboard, not always sound designers because sometimes that's a different department, but keyboard programmers and, um, and working with contractors and what sort of amps and what sort of microphones and that, that sort of stuff too.

 

Um, but also, especially if you're developing a new musical, you're coordinating with, um, The composer and the arranger and the orchestrator and the original musicians, and the music coordinator and the, you know, the general manager and the producers and all of the people. Uh, just making sure that everything gets.

 

And then you, uh, in many cases are the person who is either conducting the show or you have, you're working in close tandem with someone who is conducting the show. Sometimes the supervisor will get the show ready and then leave and someone else stays to conduct it. But basically it's like, if it is involved, if it has to do with the music, you On a show.

 

It is the, it is, it falls to the music department and you're the head of the music department. Um, and so I think your question was like, what are the, how did I rise through those ranks? And I think everything about theater is. Work leads to work. You, you do the work and someone in the room, an actor or a director or a producer or somebody is like, Oh, she was really great to work with.

 

And I'm going to remember her for the next project. And then the next time somebody comes along and they're like, do you have a music director to recommend? Yeah, we, I just worked with Georgia. She's just great. You know, and edit. I have never had an agent as a music director. I have an agent as a composer, but.

 

I've never had an agent as a music director and it really is, you just start to build a reputation. You start to get to know, um, the, the very small community of people who make new music theater. And, um, and certainly in the early days when I was in my twenties, um, a job would be, this one would be in Cincinnati and that one would be in Boston and this one would be in Seattle and be in La Jolla, California.

 

You just go where the job is and work from the theater to theater to theater. Um, and then they start to know you and they start to recommend you and they try to bring you back for their next season. And, uh, so you're managing all that. Now I'm married. I have two kids and a dog and it's much harder to leave to do something like that.

 

So I try to, uh, to do work that allows me to stay in the, in New York where I live. Um, But certainly there, there's this golden period of time where the, the ability to travel just means work leads to work.

 

Passionistas: So that's a lot of different parts of your brain that you have to use in that kind of job, right?

 

You're, you're, you have the artistic part, but you also, You were saying the math part, which I think is fascinating because I never thought of music in those terms. And then you have the organizational part and the people part. So what are your biggest challenges in that role? And what are your favorite things to do?

 

Georgia: That is great. Um, so I have a, a friend, a really good friend and colleague for if anyone who lists is listening is in our world, it's Mary Mitchell Campbell, and she is a very prominent music supervisor. She and I grew up in the business together, and I'll, I'm sure I'll bring her name up again because she also is a part of the organization that I started.

 

Um, but she and I talk about how the, a good music director really has to be well balanced in the music part and the management part, you know, like you can be really great at the music, but if you can't, Communicate the teaching of the music to the actors and, and help the actors deliver the performance that they need to deliver.

 

You can't actually do the job. So there's the people skills and then the management skills of like, um, I mean, honestly, sometimes talking someone off a ledge, a tantrum or bringing the emotional temperature down in a room. There are moments where we were like, it's just musical theater. You guys like, is it going to be okay?

 

Um, you know, there's a lot of money and there's a lot of reputation and a lot at stake. Um, and then the, the management of like literally spreadsheets of like, did this work get done? Did this get delivered? Has this person been contacted? The, you know, that, that sort of work too. Um, you know, I, I was always a musician, but I was also a very good student.

 

And I, you know, I sometimes refer to someone as like, that's a. I am going to make an A person, the kind of person who is like going to do it and it's going to make an A. And I was that person. Like I'm going to figure out how to do it. I'm going to figure out how to do it well. I'm going to figure out how to like get the approval of the teacher and do it right.

 

Um, sometimes to my detriment as an artist, right. If you, you know, that the P sometimes that the people who are really creative and don't care what, what it takes to get an A. Can think outside of the box more easily. Um, but I was always a, a type A, make an A person. Um, and I do think that has made me a good manager and, uh, and, and a more able to bounce around between those things.

 

I'll also say that the freelance life of being a musician is so. wildly unstable that, um, the more skills you can develop as a young person, the more likely you are to keep working. So I think I learned very quickly that just being able to play the piano well was not going to keep me employed around the clock.

 

And so learning how to play the piano well and also conduct and learning how to play the piano well and also conduct and also orchestrate and then, and also manage and then, and also coach actors and, you know, All of the things that fall under the umbrella of professional musician, but, um, but are actually quite different skillsets.

 

Passionistas: Yeah, that's great advice. That's really great. Um, so can you tell us maybe a few shining examples of some of the shows you've worked on and the people that you've worked with that maybe some of your more fond memories?

 

Georgia: Sure. Well, you know, the, um, the, the Broadway stuff has been fun. Um, I mean, it can be very name droppy.

 

Almost every show that you work on has a star at the center of it. I, uh, uh, one of the more recent projects I worked on was a revival of Sweet Charity off Broadway starring Sutton Foster, um, and she was a dream to work with. She just She can kind of do anything. She's and she's just a joy to have in the room and a great collaborator.

 

Um, I, uh, worked on the, I music directed, um, the revival, the, the movie of Thirteen, which was all kids. Uh, With Jason Robert Brown is my husband and, um, and he is a very prolific musical theater composer. And so I music directed 13 and I worked on the, um, the movie of the last five years with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, um, which was also great fun.

 

And I learned a lot about making movies. I got to work on, um, uh, Once Upon a Mattress, the ABC movie starring Carol Burnett and Tracy Ullman. I got to work with Carol Burnett. I have pictures of Carol Burnett and me and. She sent Christmas cards for years. Like, like just if you, if you like, when they say don't meet your heroes, Carol Burnett is not included.

 

She was exactly the, the dream of a famous person that you, that you hope a famous person will be kind and thoughtful and generous. Um, Let's see what else. Um, I had a period when I lived in LA where I was, I became kind of vocal coach to the stars. And, um, because I had Broadway experience after I lived in New York for a few years, then I had about an eight year chapter in Los Angeles and they came back to New York.

 

And in those eight years, because I had Broadway experience, I got known as like, The Broadway lady who can help the movie star learn how to sing for the film. Um, and this is so name droppy, but I like, I got to coach Patrick Swayze and I got to coach Amy Adams and Deborah Messing and Brooke Shields and, you know, just people like that who were preparing a musical audition, um, and just needed to be familiar with the music and help figure out how to hit the high note and.

 

Why am I saying this lyric on this melody? And all the same, same, same normal stuff that, um, that anybody has to learn when they're learning music.

 

Passionistas: That's some powerhouse stuff. Um, I mean, I think that's like the Holy Grail. Those three women that you mentioned are the Holy Grail. Sutton Foster, Tracy Ullman, and Carol Burnett.

 

You already, you also worked with the diva Patti LuPone, right? I have worked with Patti LuPone. Yes, I have. Yes. Who was also delightful, I have to say, like, I don't mean, I don't mean diva in a derogatory sense at all. I mean like queen of Broadway. Yep. The GOAT, the greatest of all.

 

Georgia: The project that I worked with her on was, um, a production of Can Can. And, um, and she, uh, Is that right? Um, uh, she, uh, I was, like, on call to be Patty's emergency person. Like, if Patty needed help, they'd send me into another room and be like, go work with Patty. And so there'd be times in rehearsal where she'd be like, wait, wait, wait. And she'd be like, Georgia, just, just send me into the room with Georgia. We'll get it.

 

Passionistas: Absolute heaven. You also had, I think, one of the great opportunities in terms of musical theater when you were in LA, which is you got to play a nun in the live sound of music. So I need to hear about that.

 

Georgia: This was actually in the New York chapter, but yes, I, um, yes, the, um, the NBC live sound of music, the one starring Carrie Underwood where, um, Audra McDonald was, uh, mother superior.

 

Uh, yep. So that, that is an interesting overlap of, uh, the, because the production was so big and it was live and it was happening all, so many moving parts, um, David Chase was the music supervisor of the whole production, but he had several assistants working with him as music directors and he divvied up the work.

 

So I was the music director for the nuns. So anytime the nuns were, I taught them all their music. I rehearsed. I, you know, made sure that it stayed fresh and they knew what it was. I was prepared to sing any of the parts if in a case of an emergency, um, there was another person who was in charge of the celebrities.

 

There was another person who was in charge of the children. And so, and David sort of oversaw the whole thing. And, and so anytime the nuns were called, I was called. And then finally, at one point somebody said, Since you're going to be there anyway, and you're going to be conducting, we should put you in costume in case the camera picks you up, um, then we should put you in costume so that you, and then SAG, the Union for Actors was like, well, she's going to be in costume and the camera might pick her up, then she needs to be on the call sheet, like she's actually in the show, and I was a member of SAG, and so that was great, so, so then I was in the show, and then they said, well, if you're, If you're in SAG and you're in the show anyway, then we're going to use you in some other scenes too.

 

And you can be a party guest over here and you can, so I was a nun and I actually had choreography and I, I mean, I'm not an actress, but I, I was in that number. And then anytime the camera wasn't on me, I was conducting them and getting the cutoffs and um, singing. And then, um, there is, there are a couple other scenes where I'm in the background in a fancy dress and a wig and holding a champagne glass. So anyway, it's one of my rare credits where I, uh, was, was actually in a movie.

 

Passionistas: I love that. That's like an ultimate fantasy to be in that Sound of Music fancy party scene, right? Yep, that's right. I was in the party scene.

 

Georgia: I'm in the back. If you're looking, I'm in the back. There, I do have a couple moments where I'm like very visible as a nun, but um, as a party guest, you have to, you have to know what you're looking for.

 

Passionistas: We are going to re watch it. We haven't had a chance. We are definitely excited. We also composed original musicals, so talk about where you draw your inspiration, how you decide to work on a project, that kind of thing.

 

Georgia: Sure. Well, it's interesting because I think of myself as a composer first and all of this music directing work, like I said, so much of, um, so much of a musician's life is figuring out, uh, how to keep working as a musician.

 

And there was, I would say close to a decade where I didn't make any money as a composer. You, you have to establish yourself as a composer. You have to write the work, the work has to find its audience. Um, and then. Uh, a lot of the work, a lot of the funding for work as a composer comes either from selling something that you've already made or being commissioned to write something new.

 

And both of those things require a significant investment up front before you get to that point. Um, and so music direction for me was a way to make a living while I was composing, but I learned Pretty early on that if I spend my whole day working on someone else's music, I'm not inclined to come home and then work on mine.

 

I'm exhausted. My brain is tired of thinking about music. And so it took years for me to figure out how to make space for composing, knowing that I wasn't going to make money, as much money doing that. So there was a balance of like take a music directing job and then leave six weeks to not take a music directing job and then take another music directing job.

 

Um, but, uh, but I, I think because I established that pattern, what I have learned about myself is if I'm composing for too long, I start to miss people. I start to miss being in the room. It's a thing you do at home in your own desk. Uh, and you write the work and it, you know, it lives in either on the hard drive of your computer or on note paper or whatever, but you're not actually making the music with the singers until you get into the space with the singers.

 

And then if I spend too much time music directing, I start to be like. Why am I spending so much time on someone else's music? I want to be working on mine. Um, so I will say I'm, I'm always looking for what is the next musical project. Every book I read, I'm like, is this a musical? Is this musical? And there are, um, like I open a book and I think, is this my next project?

 

Um, and there are lots of things that I look for. Like, first of all, is the Is there a reason for there to be music in this story? Like, is there Is there, does music make it better or does music just get in the way? Either, you know, an obvious answer might be the characters are musicians. And so that makes sense.

 

Or, um, it lives in a, in a world where the music can, can provide a whole lot of information about where we are. And, you know, like it's, it's set in Italy in 1873 and you're like, okay, I know what that sounds like. Or, um, or it's set like my last musical was set in Alaska in 1922 and the music is bluegrass.

 

And so it's the sound of, like, the instruments that would have been, would have been not native to, but found in that space, in that place. Um, and so like, does the world of sound, of music enhance the story and your experience of being able to be in the world of this story? And then, You know, are there, are there too many characters or are there like too many locations or is there, is, is there a beginning and a middle and an end to the story?

 

Things like that that I look at. Um, so, but I'm always looking for them in my own experience and then sometimes people bring them to me. Sometimes, uh, uh, artistic director or a producer or a collaborator or somebody will say, I have this idea for a piece and we need a composer, will you take a look and see if this speaks to you?

 

Um, but it's always a question of, you know, musicals take, they say, like four to twelve years to develop, depending on what else you've got going on and who else is involved and how quickly the, the payoff of this investment is and, and so is this a story that I can live with for that long? Is, do I want to be with these characters and exploring this story for a long time?

 

The length of time that like college is, at least. Um, and, and, and sometimes the story is like, yeah, this is a really rich world. And these are the really interesting themes that I want to dig deeply into. And sometimes you're like, I can't, I hate these people. I can't live with them for that long.

 

Passionistas: And then how do you go about mounting an actual production of one of your original shows?

 

Georgia: Well, you have to, um, you, you have to have partners. I mean, uh, you have to either have a producer that has, um, committed to you and to this piece, or you have a theater that is, um, that has a developmental arm. You know, there's, there are a number of steps that are traditional, like, It's pretty rare that someone just writes a musical in a vacuum and then tries to figure out if anybody wants it.

 

Usually you're pitching the idea, you're trying to get your partners lined up up front, so that you don't spend those four years writing something that nobody's interested in doing. Um, but the, a common first step is to do a reading of the piece. Which means, you know, the actors have music stands in front of them and there's just a piano in the room and they've spent some time learning the music.

 

And they sit at the music stands and they sing the songs and read the lines. And so you can hear it, you can hear your show, but there's no, there's nothing visual. They're not in costume. There are no lights, there's no sets, no anything like that. Um, and then if you do a reading and people come to watch it, like people in the industry come to watch it and they.

 

They're like, I'm interested in, in helping you develop this. I'm going to invest in it. Or my theater has a developmental space. We can, we can put it on our second stage or we can, or we could do it at a college or we could, you know, at the Summerstock Theater or something to like, give you a chance to try it.

 

And there's like a ladder of steps that can happen as you, you can enter it in a competition and get some acclaim that way, get some, or a festival, get some attention that way. Um, and, and then. Uh, eventually you get a production and if that production goes well and gets a good review, someone else sees it and a smart producer will be building a path to take it forward.

And ultimately, I think you have to have a cast album for, for the show to live on beyond the people who were able to see it in the room when it was happening. And then of course, the more successful you are, the more, um, The more likely you skip all those steps and you just get commissioned to write a show and it's, it's gonna, it's called a first class production.

 

It's going to go to Broadway, it's going to go to the West End, or it's going to have a national tour or some first class production because you have already paid those dues in other projects or, or they know what you're capable of doing and they don't know what Um, they commission you to write the piece and it's going to go anyway.

 

There are lots of different ways that can happen, but, um, if I, like, if, if today I read a book and I was like, I think this is my next musical, I would call my agent and say, I have this idea. Can we option this book? Uh, I mean, can I option this book or is, do you know of a producer that you think might also be interested in this and can I have a meeting with them?

 

And then you just try to build the team to, um, To get the commitment that the show is going to happen before you actually make it.

 

Passionistas: Wow. Such a process. Definitely. Musicals for a process that takes four to 12 years. You write them faster than, than the average timeline, it seems like.

 

Georgia: Oh, you think so? No, it just depends. It totally depends. Every now and then you hear about a show, like a show getting a production and you're like, I think I heard about that show when I was, you know, when I first graduated from college. Like that show has been around for decades.

 

Passionistas: Yeah, it takes forever. So talk a little bit about your experiences as a woman in music on Broadway. It's a very male dominated field. So what's that been like for you?

 

Georgia: Yep. Um, I mean, I, well, I'll lead with, um, I, I founded an organization called Maestra that I'm sure we're going to talk about as we go on. And Maestra is the female version of maestro, which is the thing we shout out to conductors and it, uh, it means the leader of the music.

 

Uh, but Maestra is the feminization of that word. Um, because it has been a very rare experience for me to be in a music department that was populated with other women. Um, I'm mostly, especially in the early years, I was mostly the only woman on the music team, um, most of the time, and often the director, choreographer, those people were men too.

 

Um, it is very important to me to say when I say story that my mentors Were men and they were wonderful and generous, and I learned the entire business from them. And so they, um, I wouldn't trade those experience. I had spent years in, in mentorship or as an assistant to consecutively several different people, composers and music director alike.

 

I learned about conducting, I learned about the musical theater cannon. I learned about. Playing music, I learned about music technology and, um, orchestration and all that from the, the men that I assisted, you know, the, I, I had a music director who hired me for my first TV and film job. And then several after that, everything I learned about working in that industry, it was because he invited me into the room.

 

Um, but, I was always the only person in the room and I thought, and I thought, how do we get more women into spaces like this? Um, and it is interesting that I never apprenticed or was mentored by a woman. And I, I can only think of a handful of women that are a generation ahead of me. That do this for a living, because there just were not many women in that space at all, certainly not working at the top of the industry.

 

Um, and so I referred to Mary Mitchell Campbell earlier, and Mary Mitchell and I were, um, pretty much the same age, climbing up the ladders at the same time, and I, for, in our very early years, right out of, out of college, We both made it a point of saying like, I'm not available to do that, but you should call Mary Mitchell.

 

She might do it. And she would say the same for me. And so we would call each other and be like, I turned down a job today, but I told them to call you or, um, or I'm doing this job and I need a sub. Would you like to be my sub? And then we can both have it on our resume. Or, she was the person that I call and I'd say, I got this job offer and here were the terms of the contract, but that doesn't sound fair to me.

 

And she'd be like, Oh, I've worked for those people before. And here's what you have to say. Like, you know, just having that, She's a fascinating, I think, um, person. We always said, um, like you're the person that has my back, and I'm the person that has your back. And, um, to me that was in my life, that was synonymous with like a girlfriend.

 

That's what, that's what a girlfriend does is like the person who has your back. Um, you know, of course I've now married a male composer who has my back and I have his back. So I have that in that space too. But in those early years, it was Mary Mitchell that was that, that person in my career. Um, and so let's see.

 

It was interesting to grow, to climb up the ranks with her and both of us be aware that there was, there were not super, that we weren't looked, there, there weren't role models that we were looking to. There might be women a few years ahead. Um, and then in that year that I was at Goodspeed and I said, I worked on, um, I worked on six musicals.

 

One of the musicals that I worked on was a piece written by Janine Tesori. And Janine is the preeminent composer of, uh, female composer of our time in musical theater. Um, she's got an opera opening at the Met like this month, right now, and she, you know, she wrote Violet and she wrote, she worked on Thoroughly Modern Millie and she like, right.

 

Why can't I listen? Oh, Caroline, or Change and several, several musicals. Um. It's so funny, I could like try to list Soft Power, try to list all her musicals right now. Um, but she's extremely prolific and um, and it was amazing to me. I think it was pivotal to my worldview in a way that I didn't realize until much later.

 

And I think that that in those years where I was learning how to be an assistant, I was, she was one of the people that I was an assistant to, um, and, and I remember both watching her work as a composer, like, I mean I didn't I didn't watch her right. I didn't watch her sit in the room and watch her right.

 

I would watch rehearsal and they would give her a task like, can we come up with something different here? And then the next day she would bring it in and I would be like, Oh, she did that overnight that. Oh, that's how that works. That's how that happens. And then I also just remember being in the green room, having girl conversations too, like about where, where do you get your eyebrows done or, you know, whatever, whatever thing.

 

Um, and just feeling how different that was, how different that felt. Um, and clocking it as being unique. So I, I, I think without really being conscious about it, I decided that I wanted to create space like that for other women too. And so when I, I'm sort of jumping into Maestra, but when I started Maestra, um, Originally, it was a space for women, for women composers and music directors, women who worked in the field.

 

And also, there is a, there, the people who work in composing are represented by an organization called the Dramatists Guild, and the people who work in music directing are represented by Musicians Union, but the, The worlds are different, like the, the work is different and the unions are different, but so many of us work in both spaces because the skill sets are aligned.

 

Um, and so I was like, we should all know each other. We should, we should, uh, we should be able to compare notes. We should be able to talk about like the unique challenges of, of sometimes you're a composer and sometimes you're the music director, but. You know, the roles are different, but the work is kind of aligned.

 

And so I got all these women together and had a cocktail party and was like, we should just know each other. Um, and, uh, that was the beginning of what turned into a huge not for profit organization. Um, That became known as Maestra.

 

Passionistas: So what was that transition? It's one thing to have a cocktail party and it's another thing to actually build an organization. So why did you want to take it to that level? And what was that process?

 

Georgia: Sure. The cocktail party was like, I think the, the, the lore now is it was 20, 22 people were invited or showed up to this cocktail party. And it was a sense of, oh, I've, I've seen your name in print or, you know, we'd never been in the same room together, but I know we do the same thing.

 

And it's. It's nice to get to know you. Um, and it was so much fun and, and great conversation and great camaraderie. And, uh, I did, I threw that cocktail party at a space called the New York Song Space that was, um, run by a woman named Kara Unterberg. And she said, get these women into the room and I'll, I'll cater it.

 

I'll make sure that there's food and drink. And at the end of that night. Cara and I were like, this was so great. Can we do it again? So we did that party three times, like a month apart. Um, and we're like, who else should we invite? Who? So the guest list grew. Uh, and then at the end of the third party, I remember saying, I want to keep having this party, but I feel like people will stop coming.

 

Cause there'll be like, I've been to that party. Like I know what it is. And so, um, For the next one, um, I invited a guest speaker to come talk to us. Like you've got a room full of female professional musicians. Somebody come talk. So we brought in Emily Grishman to talk about music notation. She's a preeminent music copyist on Broadway.

 

Talk to us about music notation. Like what is, What do you look for when someone delivers a score? What's great when you see it in a score? What's really problematic when you see it in a score? What, how do you have to solve this problem? And, um, and then we brought in a female orchestrator and we brought in producers.

 

And so every month we would have the party again and we would bring in a different speaker. Um, And the more that grew, the more people were like, this is programming. Like, is this a club? Like, what is, what are we doing? And are we, how do you get on the list? How do you get invited to this party? And I have to say this all was happening at the same time that I was working at Sweet Charity.

 

And Mary Mitchell was also, Mary Mitchell was the orchestrator, and I was the music director of Sweet Charity, and, um, and we had been tasked with hiring a female band for that production, because, this is actually an important diversion, but, uh, our director was a woman, Leigh Silberman, and she said, I want to make sure that, um, that there's a reason to tell the story of Sweet Charity in 2016.

 

And the idea is that when she goes out into the world, um, the character of Sweet Charity, which like hook her with a heart of gold, when she goes out into the world, she has to put on a kind of armor because she's out there looking for someone to date and looking, you know, navigating her way through bad men who were, you know, Not good people to date and then she comes back to her dressing room and she lets down her armor and she's with her girlfriends and a lot of her songs happen there and the band is making songs and the band is visible on stage and so there shouldn't be men in that space, there should just be women in that space because that's where she feels safe with her girlfriends, um, and Mary Mitchell and I were like, I have never been given a dramaturgical reason why I should hire women instead of men.

 

But okay. Uh, and so we, we set out to hire a band, six musicians. I was one of them, five musicians, and it was really hard to find a female drummer, a female bass player, a female guitar player, a female woodwind doubler, um, There were a lot of female cellists. Um, but, but I started calling around the music contractors, which a contractor is a person who's the, the middle man between the musicians and the, the producers and who gets the musicians hired.

 

And I was like, uh, I'm looking for a female rhythm guitarist who can play a Cy Coleman score and is willing to work off Broadway. And they'd be like, Oh, great. Here's a name. And they'd be like, I called her. She's not available. She's doing a Broadway show. Who else have you got? And they'd be like, Well, she's the one I always call and I was like, you have one.

 

You have one guitar player on your roster. There's one guitar player in New York City who could do this job. And they're like, well, no, there must be more. Let me, let me look. Let me get back to you. Um, and so finally I called that woman and I was like, apparently you're the only woman in New York who can do this job.

 

And I know you're not available, but who are your colleagues and who are your really exceptional students? And she had a list. She had a great list. She knew who they were. Um, and so anyway, eventually we got our band. And, um, and so since then, after that, people were like, I hear you have the list. Cause I had started a spreadsheet of, um, the people we called who weren't available or the people who called who were like, Yeah, it just weren't a bit like, I'm on tour or I'm, you know, whatever.

 

Um, but could have done it under other circumstances. And, um, and so people are like, I hear you have the list of like all the female bass players in New York or all of, you know, and, um, I called the guys, The two guys who made my own personal website and I said, would you, would you build me a little directory?

 

And I will, that just has, that these people can put themselves in and they can build a profile and they can say like, I'm a musician. I work in New York city. I'm a female musician. I work in New York city and you should know I exist. Um, and so we built a little directory and And I just thought I was making this thing that was like a service, like a gift to, um, the city, to the industry, but people started using it and more musicians, more musicians started putting it in too.

 

So, so anyway, the idea of the cocktail parties and the idea of the directory sort of merged together and I was, We applied for not for profit status and we came up with the name Maestra and the whole thing started there. And so, the directory still exists, we have almost 2, 500, we have 2, 479 as of this morning people in the Maestra directory.

 

And it's global. So there's a huge, 61 percent of the directory is based in New York City, but the rest of it, 39 percent is not. Um, and there are all over, anywhere there's a market in musical theater, um, or opera, we say anyone who makes music for the stage. Um, There, we've got centers in Chicago and Boston and Seattle and Southern California and Atlanta and Nashville, and then we've got, um, London and Australia and Canada and Mexico City, and we've got a German speaking Europe maestra, and, uh, we've got a burgeoning Japan maestra coming, um, and And so we're just trying to build.

 

Oh, and it's also very, very important to say that we did start as a women's organization, but very early on, we did set, we brought in a gender consultant and realized that our mission, we changed our mission statement. So it's women and non binary people now, women, of course, including trans women and non binary people, um, to, to make space for anyone who is, uh, who, who belongs there.

 

If you feel like you belong in a space, then you're welcome to join the space. Um, and, um, And, you know, we just celebrated our fifth anniversary as a not for profit, and I have learned a whole lot about fundraising. And, um, and all sorts of not for profit adjacent things. We have a board of directors and four full time employees and it's just grown into an actual thing. It's an actual thing.

 

Passionistas: Wow. That's phenomenal. Congratulations. Thank you. One guitar player to 25. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so do you, are you finding there's more opportunities? Like we just saw Suffs in New York a few months ago and that. Blew our minds because almost the whole production was women. I mean, the every onstage was women. The entire orchestra was women. Many of the people behind the scenes. So are you familiar?

 

Georgia: So it's worth, it's worth noting that Lee Silverman is the director of Suffs and she was the Sweet Charity Director. So there's a real intentional link there that Lee was drawn to, um, Shaina Taub. Shaina Taub A. She's the composer, lyricist, and book writer.

 

She won two Tony Awards for writing Suffs. Um, She's a member of Maestra. Everyone in the orchestra of Suffs is a Maestra. Um, and three members of the cast are Maestras because they're also working musicians. Um, and so that, that, I mean, that is like the greatest success story for women in non binary people work.

 

And Shaina is, about, um, about inclusivity in every, in every aspect of the way that she has put that show together. Um, so that's, you know, like that is the piece that breaks the, what's the, that breaks the curves and the, you know, that's not normal and nor should it be, like, I don't want the men to say like, well, there's no work for us anymore.

 

And then suddenly we've got an imbalance. To me, the, the goal is. It's something that feels more balanced. I don't say parody, although I guess parody, you know, I don't say, we say equity, that there's a sense of like, we're not questioning why someone's in the room that we're not, there's not an afterthought when you're like, Oh, we probably should have some women.

 

We don't have any women, you know, but that it just was never, that was never, uh, unbalanced to begin with. That would be the goal. Um, but we are still seeing. There, yes, the answer is yes. There are more opportunities for women and non binary musicians than there used to be. There's a lot more intentionality.

 

I think a lot of that is related to our programming and we have done, we worked with the musicians union a couple years ago and got data statistics, many statistics, but among them gender statistics to look at, um, instrument by instrument, what percentage is women, what percentage is male, what percentage is non binary.

 

Um, And they're all as horrifying as you think they are for women. They're all unbelievably low. Um, some of them, I think, I don't have them in front of me, but like trumpet players, drummers, it's like less than 5 percent women. Um, and then there are lots of like shocking statistics. Like, there are no women guitar players unless they're visible on stage, and then there are guitar players.

 

If they, like, if you can look at them, then you'll hire a woman, but if you don't have to see them, then, um, then you'll hire a man. Just statistics like that, that were shocking, but once we had them and were able to share them, um, They, I think the industry responded and said, well, I had no idea. And this is, this is a problem.

 

And we're doing this kind of inclusivity work on stage. Like we're, we're changing the way that we cast actors and we're changing who's visible. And so maybe we should do the same sort of work backstage and under the stage and, and make sure we're having the conversations around inclusivity. And I will say also, it makes a difference that there are more and more.

 

Women producers, there are more and more artistic directors and general managers and, and people who run advertising campaigns. And, you know, you talk in the corporate world about when the, when the change happens at the c-suite, then it happens all the way down. And it's the same in our industry when the leaders start to change.

 

And you can have conversations about, I mean, I literally had a conversation with an executive at Disney about, um, of changing the rules around nursing mothers and around creating space for like. What the costumes accommodate when a woman is pregnant and that she said that they had never had the conversations before because she was the first female executive to bring them up.

 

And so it is. You know, when we say representation matters, it is, it is very, very much about like, who's in the room when the conversations are having and who's asking the questions that are representing the issues that are affecting the women who are down in the basement, in the pit, wearing black, um, not seen unless someone is advocating for them.

 

Passionistas: Yeah, absolutely. So, who is an ideal person to join Maestra and how do they do that?

 

Georgia: Yeah, great. Um, well, we have a website at maestramusic.org and, um, the ideal person, we say it's anyone who, uh, is making music for the stage, musical theater or opera. So we have, uh, composers, lyricists, we say book writers too, book writers are the playwrights because they are always in.

 

Bookwriters for musicals, not if you're a playwright who never writes a musical, but if you have attempted or are actively writing book for musicals, then you're in collaboration with musicians all the time too, making musical stories. And then of course, pit musicians, orchestrators, copyists, keyboard programmers, vocal coaches, voice teachers, um, Sound designers, anyone who's involved in the making of the music, um, for a stage at, in any location, anywhere.

 

Um, and, uh, it's a very, it's very niche, I think, in terms of, like, changing the world. It's a very small market. And yet, um, we're finding parallels in almost every industry. And so, um, we have a lot of allies and advocates and supporters in other industries that are saying like, I'm a chef, but we're doing the same thing in my business.

 

Or, you know, um, and so then we, we have, we have a term that we say maestro adjacent. If you're a maestro adjacent person. Um, meaning that you're, you're deeply aligned with the mission, but you can't actually join the directory. And a lot of those are producers or men or, you know, people who are like, I'm totally behind this organization.

 

I just, uh, you know, some of them are donors and some of them are like, that's, that's not the way that I show up, but I'd like to show up in a different way. Um, and then I will say, we do have one program that, um, We have a program called RISE that is trying to do the same thing for the industry beyond musicians and especially doing work for towards people of color.

 

So we say that is the greater industry Everyone except actors and, um, RISE Theater has its own website and its own organization, its own directory, and it is a program of maestria. It is under our umbrella, but that program in particular has support from the Miranda Family Foundation, which is Lin Manuel Miranda and his family's organization.

 

And they, Lynn Manuel, came to me and said, I see what you're doing with Maestra, and I want to do the same thing for the whole industry, but I want to be sure to like, activate and make visible people of color who are the set designers, and the line designers, and the wig designers, and the general managers, and the ticket agents, and the, you know, florists, Basically, everybody works there.

 

So it's not just about gender and it's not just about race, it's accessibility. We keep saying that RISE is like the yellow pages for the theater, including white men. White men can be in RISE too. Like it is the yellow pages for the theater. But the, um, but the idea is that the, the work of promoting people and the visibility that we do around it and the network partners that we're aligning are people who are doing work in the space to make more accessibility for, um, For the people who are in the directory.

 

So the true answer is like, if you work in the theater at all, there's probably a space for you at Maestra, but in the Maestra directory itself, it's, it's specific to musicians who are women and non binary and their supporters.

 

Passionistas: So what can we, uh, non theater, maestra, adjacent people, women in our community, what can we do to support your mission?

 

Georgia: That's great. I love this question. Okay, well, obviously if you're in a position to make a donation, even a small donation, it's a not for profit organization, it's tax deductible, and we, um, are in great need of financial stability. Also, if you're, you know, all the things that you can do with any not for profit, if your company does matching donations, or if you are in a position to recommend an organization to a donor advised fund or to, um, a foundation that is, that is looking for doing work in gender equity or the arts or anything like that, that to, to recommend us, but I do have, um, we have, uh, I have a friend who's on the advisory board and, um, Who's an actress?

 

And she said when she goes around the country and works in other spaces, she makes sure to speak to the management at that theater and say, do you know about Maestra? And she said she, she always looks in the pit when she's at, when she goes to a theater, she looks in the pit and if she sees. Great diversity in the pit.

 

She makes sure to say somebody like, good work. I see what you're doing. And this is, you know, obviously very intentional and somebody has, has made this a priority and I see it and I appreciate it. And if she doesn't see diversity in the pit, she mentions it to like even the box office manager on the way out and saying like, I'm just really interesting that everybody in the orchestra was a white man.

 

I wonder if anyone's ever mentioned that to you before. And she said when she's working at the theater, she has a conversation with the general manager and says, do you know about Maestra? Because often they say, yes, this is what our pit is, but we, we're in a small market and these are the only musicians that are here.

 

And we just don't have women drummers in this. And sometimes you can, you can look at somebody's directory and find out that they're from a very diverse county or this city or this whatever and often, you can look in the Maestro directory and find out that you do, you know, that you just don't know them yet and they haven't, they, you know, they haven't been given an opportunity.

 

And then we always say, like, you can't, we can't vouch for every single person. Like not necessarily every single person in the directory is ready to be hired to play a Broadway show. so much for watching this video. But I want to answer the question or answer the complaint when people say those people don't exist.

 

I want to say they do. You now have to vet them, but here are some names of people who say they do what you think they don't do. So they do exist. Um, so yeah, I think it's asking questions, being intentional about it. Like I love it when I'm playing in an orchestra and people come down before the show or an intermission and pump their heads over the pit and they're like, they say hi, I see you and people always say like, Oh, a female conductor.

 

I haven't seen a female conductor. I'm looking forward to the moment where that's not a rarity and people don't feel like they have to say that. But when they do say it, I'm glad, I'm glad that they. They registered it and then it's a, it's something that they're aware of. Um, I guess all of those things, asking the right questions, supporting women's work.

 

Like you said, you want to see stuff, supporting women's work when you, um, encounter it. Yeah.

 

Passionistas: Fantastic. All right. Well, this hour flew by, but we have one last two part question. Okay. Which is what is your dream for yourself and what is your dream for women and gender non conforming, non binary people?

 

Georgia: All right. Um, I think my dream, I have a dream for myself. It's not just, it's one of many dreams, but a dream for myself is, um, I've never had a show that I wrote play on Broadway. I've worked on Broadway in the music department. I've never had a show that I authored on Broadway. And, um, I did have an awakening this year and I thought if you are, if you say you're going to do that, you should probably be doing it.

 

Like you should probably be making it now and not just, you know, when you're really young, you think, well, someday I'll do that. And I think I've hit the Mid career, mid life point where you're like, maybe you should be doing now. Maybe in the peak and the crest of your career, maybe this is where it's supposed to be happening.

 

So I would like something that I write to play on Broadway. That's the goal, um, to, and I don't think it's an unattainable goal. I just, uh, that, that, that I'll say that that's a dream for me. And then I think I sort of already answered the, um, my dream for, um, For the women and non-binary musicians is, I would love, I would love for the work spaces to feel equitable for the, the maestros who work in them to feel safe in them emotionally and physically safe in them, and to feel like, um, they are being valued for.

 

The, what they can do as musicians in equal part with anyone else who's in that they deserve to be in the room because they, um, because they are musicians who have worked hard and, and have gotten that opportunity because they deserve to be there because they're musicians, musicians, not for any other external identity factor.

 

Passionistas: Thanks for listening to The Passionistas Project. Since we're not only business partners, but best friends and real life sisters, we know how unique and truly special our situation is. We know so many solopreneurs, activists, women seeking their purpose and more, who are out there doing it all on their own.

 

They often tell us they wish they had what we have. So we've created a space for them and you to join our sisterhood, where trust, acceptance, and support are the cornerstones of our community. By joining, you become part of our family. We'll give you all of our CIS tips on building meaningful relationships through the power of sisterhood and all the tools you need to thrive in three key areas —business growth, personal development, and social impact. You'll learn from our panel of Power Passionistas who are experts on topics like transformational leadership, letting go of perfectionism, the power of community, and so much more. You can connect with like minded women and gender non conforming, non binary people who share your values and goals in chat spaces, at online Passionistas pajama parties and virtual and in person meetups.

 

And, you can register for our exclusive series of online courses designed to help you tap into your intuition, find your purpose, bring your mission to fruition, and integrate diversity equity inclusion in every aspect of your plan. Be sure to visit ThePassionistasProject.com to sign up for our free membership to join our worldwide sisterhood of passion driven women who come to get support, find their purpose, and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world.

 

We'll be back next week with another Passionista who's defining success on her own terms and breaking down the barriers for herself and women everywhere.

 

Until then, stay passionate.

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