Laura Karpman builds connections for her fellow female film composers

When Laura Karpman founded The Alliance for Women Film Composers in 2014, her first move was “radical,” she recalled.

“We created a directory,” said the Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning composer. “And the reason why it was radical is because people thought we didn’t even exist.”

For Karpman, it has always been paramount to show her peers that female composers “are here, we have been here, we’re capable and prepared,” she said. “And now I’m so glad the rest of the world is seeing that.”

In co-curating the fifth annual Breaking Barriers Festival with Chief Conductor Marin Alsop, Karpman helps shine an even brighter light on women in film scoring, an ever-growing group less celebrated than their male counterparts.

That gap is noticeable even in some of this summer’s Breaking Barriers programming; by scheduling works by John Williams and Leonard Bernstein, it’s evident that when reflecting on the history of film, there aren’t many female composers to consider.

“And that’s the whole point of the program,” Karpman said about the wide-ranging concert tilted “On the Movies” on July 24 at Ravinia. Particularly in “The Female Lens” Suite, Karpman and Alsop explore the “diverse voices of women composers who are active today, creating spectacular, award-winning music,” Karpman said. The first half of the program ends with two songs from the “Star Wars” universe, including Natalie Holt’s “Hanging Out” from TV series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” notable as Holt was the first woman ever hired to score for the franchise. 

“Entering the worlds of ‘Star Wars’ or Marvel has been absolutely closed off for women, but now it’s opening, with people like Natalie, with me,” said Karpman, who has scored several Marvel projects. “But that’s still brand-new.″

The second half of the program includes Bernstein’s Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront” (1954), which Karpman, an admirer of the late composer’s work, calls “an absolutely textbook example of how to brilliantly score for film.” 

And her own work, the Ravinia commission Unsung: A Symphonic Suite for the Superhero Women of Classic Hollywood, honors female characters in film who never had themes.

“Women were always the sidekicks, the love interests, the secondary characters,” she explained of 20th-century movies. “So that means all the hero themes always got assigned to the men, and the women, if they were lucky, maybe got a nice love theme.”

For Karpman, writing by women for women “shows we have a point of view,” she said. “And that point of view is starting to come into focus with women directors having a bit more of an opportunity, and requesting that type of composition. And that is really significant.”

Karpman hopes that Breaking Barriers attendees walk away knowing that female composers are adding seats to a growing table, not taking existing spots away.

“There’s room for us,” she said. “Any kind of diverse voices can only enrich a conversation, not diminish it. It helps make us all deeper and more empathetic.”