Early on in my career I was asked the gender question a lot. I mean, A LOT. It seemed to be the focus of most of my interviews in the early aughts – what’s it like to be a female conductor in a male-dominated field? Given the increasing numbers of women on the podium, lately that questions has become less prevalent, and I suppose in a way that’s a huge positive. Women conductors are becoming more normalized and pointing out our unique experiences might act as a disservice to that process. Which is not to say that the challenges of being a woman in what is still a man’s world…