Donne Foundation Breaks Guinness World Record with 26-Hour Concert

 Featuring music championing gender equality and inclusion, the marathon event is now the “Longest Acoustic Music Live-Streamed Concert”

Founded in 2018 by soprano Gabriella Di Laccio, the UK’s Donne Foundation — dedicated to achieving gender equality in music — has officially shattered the Guinness World Record for the “Longest Acoustic Music Live-Streamed Concert.”

Held from February 22–23, 2024, as a fundraising event for the foundation's diversity initiatives, the “Let HER Music Play” concert featured 96 musicians performing a wide range of music from over 140 by female and non-binary composers, arrangers, and songwriters. 

The concert streamed live for a total of 26 hours 18 minutes and 57 seconds, and reached an international audience of over 10,000 in over 50 countries, as well as a live audience in London. 

As part of the concert, the Donne Foundation launched their £1 FOR EQUALITY CAMPAIGN — with every donation going towards the foundation’s various diversity initiatives, and creating opportunities for the future of women in music. 

The “Let HER MUSIC Play” YouTube playlist is available here. 

“We've shattered this record because we dare to dream big and push beyond boundaries,” Di Laccio said in the press release. “This achievement is a call to every one of us to lift each other up, to make space for all voices in music and beyond,” she added. “It's about more than just being heard; it's about creating a legacy of inclusion and empowering diverse voices. To all my colleague artists who were part of this campaign: this Guinness World Record belongs to you all!”

Since its founding in 2018, the Donne Foundation has produced ground-breaking research — in 2022, it revealed disparities in the music and film industries, reporting that 92% of the works performed by orchestras worldwide were composed by men, 1.67% of pop music producers were women, and that women composers accounted for only 5% of the top 100 highest-grossing movies.

Additionally, research in 2021 revealed that just 747 out of the 14,747 compositions scheduled by the 100 orchestras throughout the 2020-21 season were composed by women; accounting for 5% of all scheduled pieces. 

Collaborators of the Foundation have included the Royal Albert Hall, Apple Music, and The Oscars. The initiative has also created free multimedia resources, and held program consultations and educational initiatives.