Clodagh Finn: Time to recall our overlooked female conductors and composers

Tár stars Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a distinguished composer.

I wonder how many are familiar with the name Alicia Needham, the world-renowned Irish composer and one of the first women to conduct at the Royal Albert Hall in London more than a century ago?

I thought of her taking the baton in 1914 at the St Patrick’s Day Grand Irish Festival performance — and the impact of that — following the release yesterday of the mesmerising Tár, starring Cate Blanchett as a distinguished (and predatory) conductor.