KDFC reports that an all female opera company is being formed in the U.K. Opera Femina may allow men in once the company is more established, but their goal is to provide opportunities for talented women in a male-dominated business. In the Bay Area we have the Women’s Philharmonic which not only features female musicians, but also features works by women composers. You may not know that there were female relatives of famous composers who were just as musically talented. Fanny Mendelssohn, older sister of Felix, tried to be a devoted housewife, but suffered when she wasn’t composing and eventually went against her family’s wishes and published her works. Clara Schumann devoted herself to promoting her husband, Robert’s, music, although she was trained and talented herself. A quote from her diary: “I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea, women must not desire to compose – there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?”