Inside and outside the institution: Women Pioneers of Electronic Music

This paper will present research on the work of women pioneers of electronic music with regards to their relationship to the institution, inside or out. How did the place of employment, whether private or connected to a university or studio, enable and restrict the creative and conceptual leaps made by composers such as Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue and Delia Derbyshire? Using case studies, empirical data and by looking at individual approaches to technology - for example Radigue’s use of a single synthesiser between the 1950s and 2000 - this paper will explore how the relationship to the institution influenced the significance of the contributions made and the reception of these contributions within their respective peer groups.