When marching-band director Tyrone Brown asks his Jackie Robinson Steppers, “Are you motivated?” he’s not so much inquiring as presenting a challenge. In the middle of a sweltering summer in ...

For the marching band at the all-girls high school of St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans, one of the few all-girls marching bands in the city, music is the key to breaking down barriers. Karen Swensen ...

NEW ORLEANS — The girls at St. Mary's Academy are part of a long-standing legacy of discipline, dedication, and style. That’s the mantra they live by every single day. Band director Raynice Crayton ...

In 1981, the all-female pop-punk band The Go-Go’s set a new precedent for girl power in rock music, belting out a chorus of “We Got the Beat” to drummer Gina Schock’s pounding rhythm. It’s an anthem ...