14 July 2002

I don't know why there are so few female conductors, but its definitely something I've heard about before. On the other hand, my girlfriend just spent a week and a half at a Bach festival attending a conducting master's class and from her stories there seem to have been at least a few females there...

Here's a long article on female conductors. Its not a terribly great article, but it does raise some interesting points. Firstly, only recently and only in certain countries have female musicians become common. In the top orchestras in Europe there are still very few female musicians. If male musicians are only just accepting women as their peers, then they're very unlikely to accept them as their leaders. Secondly, this problem is excacerbated by the fact that we tend to import most of our top conductors. Since European orchestras are much more sexist, taking European conductors means you're very unlikely to have female conductors. Finally, until recently there was a lot of overt sexism, for example it was not until the 60's that Juilliard started accepting women into its graduate conducting program. (This article also makes some general arguments which apply to any leadership position based on cultural stereotypes etc, which you have already heard in reference to other subjects and either believe or don't.)

Here's a better written article. It begins:

If you are not a despot, sexually voracious, power-obsessed, long-lived and as fit as a marathon runner, don't bother to apply. The job? Conductor of a symphony orchestra.

The central point of this article is found in this quote:

According to Janna Hymes-Bianchi, the newly appointed associate conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the problem is not with the audiences or even the orchestras themselves but with the boards and committees who appoint the musical directors. 'In my experience,' she says, 'it is the upper administrations and board members who feel it is risky and possibly dangerous to hire women music directors.'


Anyway I wonder what you all think... I'll also be sure to ask Laura who is bound to have some strong opinions on the matter.

Speaking of gender imbalances... None of you responded to my gender and religion question.

No comments: