YORK Cantores set right a wrong in a concert teasingly entitled Like A Fish Needs A Bicycle.

As recently as the second half of the 20th century, women's contribution in the field of composing music was restricted by a lack of access to the necessary education.

Even for those lucky enough to acquire such a basis, economic and social mores barred them from the full realisation of talent that was available to their male peers.

"However, changing social times are releasing women from traditional restrictions and the output from the late 20th and early 21st century is rich," says Marion Best, musical director of York Cantores.

Two British composers represented tomorrow are recent prize winners in major competitions, one of them being Kerry Andrew, from York.

She won the Temple Church Choir composition prize in 2002 and is now studying for her MA and hopes to go on to study for her PhD in composition at the University of York.

The earliest works tomorrow are by Chiara Margarita Cozzalani, a Benedictine nun who spent her entire adult life within a Milanese convent.

The 19th century is represented by four elegiac choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn. Unlike her more famous brother Felix, much of her music is unpublished, yet her output was extensive.

Marion says: "There's a risk that tomorrow's programme may appear as novelty; however, I've long wanted to perform many of the works as a result of their sheer quality.

"The music we're performing is in no way inferior to that of other composers. If anything, it is better!"

Tomorrow's concert starts at 8pm in St Olave's Church, York, and the programme will be repeated on March 12 in St Paul's Hall, University of Huddersfield, at 8pm, as part of the Kirklees International Women's Day Festival.

As for the concert title, Marion reveals: "That's just a little bit tongue in cheek.

"Although the full phrase - 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle' - may cause people to think of us as a feminist organisation, we're fully an equal opportunities choir.

"We couldn't perform this programme without our tenors and basses, who'll be appearing in virtually all the pieces."

Tickets are available at £8, concessions £6, on the door.

Updated: 08:59 Friday, March 04, 2005