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Pepin part of a very rare breed

February 18, 2019
French music composer Camille Pepin poses in her studio in Paris. — AFP
French music composer Camille Pepin poses in her studio in Paris. — AFP

Paris — Camille Pepin is part of a very rare breed. She is a female composer.

Women have conquered space, risen in the military ranks, but some professions remain resolutely and bewilderingly masculine.

When Pepin turned up for her first day at the Paris Conservatoire -- as usual the only woman in a class of men -- an official told her that her name wasn't on the list.

But when she insisted that she was and that he look again, he cried, "Ah, you're a woman!"

Camille is also a man's name in France.

"I would never have thought," he apologized. "There are so many men..."

With so few female composers in the classical music repertoire, it was an easy mistake to make.

Pepin has never let everyday sexism get her down though, laughing it off like water off a duck's back.

Pepin, whose music recalls both Claude Debussy and American minimalist composers like John Adams, said sometimes the sexist stereotypes which persist in the classical music world are hard to take. — AFP


February 18, 2019
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