Stephanie Nicholls 28/9/24 Stephanie Nicholls 28/9/24

Sisters in Sync: 3-2-1 with Hannah Lee Tungate

Hannah Lee Tungate, creative producer and president of Tenth Muse Initiative, is an incredible advocate for underrepresented voices in classical music. Through award-winning shows and innovative projects like the Women Composers Project, she’s creating new platforms for diverse voices in Perth’s music scene. In September's Sisters in Sync interview, Hannah shares her journey, her passion for inclusion, and her vision for a more vibrant and diverse future in classical music.

3 Questions - 2 Insights - 1 unique photo with remarkable women musicians

This month's Sisters in Sync features an inspiring conversation with soprano Hannah Lee Tungate of the Boorloo/Perth-based Tenth Muse Initiative (TMI). Tenth Muse was born out of frustration with the lack of diversity often seen in classical music, but Hannah and her team have transformed that frustration into a vibrant collective that shines a light on diverse voices and fresh perspectives. TMI has achieved remarkable success, including an award-winning Fringe show, nominations in the Performing Arts WA Awards, commissions of new works by emerging composers and poets, and concerts that range from opera to intimate gatherings centred around cups of tea.

Hannah’s passion for amplifying underrepresented voices has guided her journey as a producer and advocate for women composers, especially through the Women Composers Project. As TMI’s president and creative producer, Hannah continues to create platforms for new and diverse voices in Western Australian classical music, driving change with her deep commitment to inclusion.

Tenth Muse Initiative's next event, Sapphic Serenade, will be held on Wednesday 20 November at Perth City Farm, featuring beautiful string quartets by sapphic composers and a twilight market with queer-owned businesses. It’s an evening of calming music to celebrate pride—don’t miss it! Click here for tickets.

In this interview, Hannah shares insights into the inspiration behind her career, the importance of mentorship, and how she’s making classical music more engaging and inclusive for future generations.

What’s one piece of advice from a woman in music that has stuck with you?

Back in 2016, the amazing Jessica Gethin was giving a talk at a Women in Music event at UWA, and she said that most people will give you a small amount of their time for a cup of coffee. If there’s someone who’s further along their career than you or that you admire and you’d like to connect with them or learn from them, ask if you can buy them a coffee. A short amount of their time for a cup of coffee, and you just don’t know where it will lead you (and Tenth Muse Initiative actually wouldn’t exist without it).

Who is a lesser-known female musician or composer you believe deserves more recognition and why?

I find it really challenging to choose just one lesser-known woman composer. There are so many out there deserving of recognition, as there have been so many nearly lost to history.

This week I’ve been listening to Henriëtte Bosmans — the incredible Dutch composer who, despite being labelled as an ‘undesirable’ by the Nazi regime & so was prevented from performing publicly, supported herself by performing at secret underground house concerts. Her considerable oeuvre includes orchestral works, chamber music and many songs.

And of course, Barbara Strozzi will always be on my list — though I think (& hope) she’s becoming more and more well known!

How do you think the music industry can better support and uplift women artists and composers?

Acknowledge that there is a lack of gender representation within the sector and then program more music by women, hire more women as soloists, hire more women as conductors, hire more women into creative leadership roles. And then keep doing it. Keep working on removing the barriers that have kept so many artists suppressed.

How has mentorship, especially from other women, played a role in your career, and what value do you think it brings to emerging female artists?

I’ve been very fortunate to have many amazing mentors and 95% have been other women. The mentorship I’ve received has always come from people I truly admire in the industry, and I’ve been lucky to find many people who want to raise you up instead of tear you down. And I want to continue to do that for other emerging artists that follow me. Mentorship from other women has given me the confidence to keep going, and I know I have a raft of people to support me when I need it.

Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that shaped your path as an artist?

It was at PSO’s inaugural Women on the Podium weekend in 2019, and the incredible Bourby Webster was talking to us about the business side of being an artist, and how she’d founded PSO, and all the steps she took to get there. And in that moment the first spark of Tenth Muse Initiative was born. I was so inspired by the path Bourby had taken that it set a fire in me that didn’t go away, and under a year later TMI was born.

I had known that I wanted to see greater representation in the music industry and had been researching women composers for a while, but it was hearing how Bourby took PSO from concept to what the orchestra is today that it just clicked. Everything I have worked towards as an artist since then has been to build Tenth Muse Initiative and tell the stories of all these unheard voices, and raise up artists whose work deserves to be performed.