Bang the drum for change: why do orchestras have so few women percussionists?

In London's orchestras alone, there are more men called David with jobs in percussion than there are women. Why are back rows still so male?

In 1913, Sir Henry Wood hired six female violinists to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, the first women in the world to join a professional orchestra playing alongside men. I do not like ladies playing the trombone or double bass, but they can play the violin, and they do," said the conductor magnanimously. Since then, we have seen a steady increase of women joining professional orchestras and bringing us closer to gender parity, indeed, some ladies have even proved they can play the trombone and the double bass. But what is happening in the percussion section?

In 1992, Dame Evelyn Glennie took to the Royal Albert Hall stage as the first solo percussionist to play a concerto at the Proms. Glennie brought solo percussion into the mainstream and singlehandedly changed the perception of percussion, showing the world that women could play it too. Two years later, the BBC added the percussion category to its Young Musician of the Year competition.