BOULANGER INITIATIVE

Boulanger Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to promote music composed by women through performance, education, research, consulting and commissions. Boulanger Initiative advocates for women and all gender marginalized composers.

Co-founders Joy-Leilani Garbutt and Laura Colgate chose the name “Boulanger Initiative” to honor the work of two paragons of the 20th-Century classical music world. Nadia and Lili Boulanger were not only talented musicians and composers, but they broke gender barriers on their way to great musical achievements. Both sisters were among the first few women to enter the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, and in 1913 Lili became the first woman to earn the coveted Grand Prix.

After Lili’s untimely death at the age of 24, her sister continued to promote her music and worked to keep her legacy alive. Nadia went on to become one of the most influential musical pedagogues of her generation, as well as the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic, and several other major U.S. and European orchestras.

Boulanger Initiative pays tribute to Nadia and Lili and all that they accomplished, with a tripartite focus on performance, education, and the commissioning of new music.