{"id":5407,"date":"2013-09-04T11:25:18","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T11:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=5407"},"modified":"2013-09-04T20:26:21","modified_gmt":"2013-09-04T20:26:21","slug":"laziness-cynicism-and-hypocrisy-the-hard-truth-about-the-why-are-there-no-women-conductors-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2013\/09\/04\/laziness-cynicism-and-hypocrisy-the-hard-truth-about-the-why-are-there-no-women-conductors-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Laziness, cynicism and hypocrisy? The hard truth about the “why are there no women conductors?” question"},"content":{"rendered":"

The music world has reacted this week with a mixture of genuine moral outrage and cynical Schadenfreude<\/i> to one conductor\u2019s recent take on the place of women in the conducting world.<\/p>\n

For all the howls of indignation, what I haven\u2019t seen from most people writing about the issue is a knowledge of the talents, achievements and potential of almost any actual women conductors other than the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony (very occasionally someone mentions the current conductor of the Hamburg Opera), whose name has been mentioned in virtually every news and opinion item related to the story so far, including the retraction\/apology issued by the conductor whose comments started the whole conversation.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of the days when, as a young person, I used to find myself visiting parts of the deep South (my parents are both from Atlanta) and I\u2019d be shocked to hear so many otherwise apparently respectable people sitting around in supposedly polite company talking about how all the ills of society, from the schools to the streets, were being caused by \u201cthe blacks.\u201d When I finally got old enough and brave enough to call them out on their casual racism, they would always explain that they weren\u2019t really racist because they had the utmost respect for this or that specific black person- always one off a small list of candidates.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not prejudiced black people- some of them do great things! I have tons of respect for Bill Cosby!\u201d they would protest, very occasionally substituting Martin Luther King Jr or Sidney Poitier.<\/p>\n

Although the context and the conversation here are substantially different, too many people on all sides of this debate are too content to sit back and say \u201cI have tons of respect \u00a0for women conductors- the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony is great!\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve only met the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony once when I was student, but I feel confident in guessing that at this stage of her career, being the one name everyone seems to grab for when desperate to mention a woman conductor they respect is getting old. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve left her name out of this blog post.<\/p>\n

I think that many people writing about this issue, proclaiming the viability and importance of women on the podium, need to get beyond the \u201cBill Cosby\u201d clause and get out there and get to know the work of some other women conductors.<\/p>\n

The music press have been behind the curve on this issue for a long time. I think it\u2019s the height of laziness for any journalist to ask the seemingly ubiquitous question: \u201cwhy are there no women conductors?\u201d Of course there are women conductors! Why don\u2019t you know who they are and where they are working? \u201cIt\u2019s not us,\u201d say the question-askers in their own defense \u201cWe\u2019re totally well-informed on women conductors- we love the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony!\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought long and hard about creating a list of great women colleagues here, but as a performer myself, I try not to get into the slippery business of ranking my peers, and I\u2019d feel awful if I caused hurt to a friend or student by omitting their name, and it’s very awkward an probably unfair for one performer to write critically about another. This is really work for a journalist.<\/p>\n

So, dear music journalists, here is your challenge:\u00a0write a feature article profiling at least 20 to 30 women conductors working today<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Many of my brilliantly gifted female colleagues know all-too-well the frustration of trying to get a critic to come to their concert or trying to get their latest CD reviewed. Find them- pay attention to them! Get out there, dear journalists, and please get beyond the absolute top-tier of major orchestras. If you want to know who is really up and coming, you\u2019ve got to look at youth orchestras, community orchestras, university groups, new music ensembles, collectives and people in minor staff positions. Of course, there are a lot of important and well-established women conductors in the field making major professional careers other than the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony. Don’t forget them. Your list should include conductors at all stages of career and life.<\/p>\n

If you really want to see more gender equity on the podiums of the great orchestras around the world, ask what you can do to bring new names and new talents into the conversation.<\/p>\n

In doing so, let\u2019s try to avoid looking for a prototype- find a diverse array of individuals. Let\u2019s try to avoid treating these individuals as if everyone were equally gifted and meritorious just because they were female. Far too many people in this industry are afraid to say anything critical about any woman conductor for fear of appearing sexist. This does nobody any favors- there are many, many female conductors out there capable of delivering superb performances of the broadest array of rep. You\u2019re not helping them find their place and their path in the field if you\u2019re afraid to constructively criticize other women who aren\u2019t able to deliver the musical goods.<\/p>\n

But Ken, you may say- weren\u2019t you the one just the other day saying \u201cdon\u2019t call them women conductors, just call them conductors?\u201d<\/a> Now you\u2019re telling us to go hunting women conductors.<\/p>\n

Well- here\u2019s the thing. As long as Bill Cosby is the only black person one knows by name, it\u2019s pretty easy for anyone else with similar skin color to simply be one of \u201cthe blacks.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019m quite confident that if you really take the time to go to the rehearsals and concerts of a truly diverse group of women conductors, you\u2019ll find that their gender and profession are the only things they have in common. You\u2019ll find a group of individuals with distinct and diverse personalities and skill sets, some who excel in Elgar, others who flounder in Franck, but may persuade in Panufnik. You\u2019ll see leaders of great personal charm and hard-nosed bullies. You\u2019ll meet alcoholics and yoga fanatics. You may end up writing a feature piece for one of the music magazines on \u201cthirty women conductors who are not currently music director of the Baltimore Symphony,\u201d but next time you think of or encounter no. 17 on the list, you may just find yourself remembering them not as number 17, but as \u201cthe conductor who galvanized a county youth orchestra into a truly memorable performance of Mahler 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, hopefully, you won\u2019t even notice that you just caught yourself calling them a \u201cconductor,\u201d and not a \u201cwoman conductor\u201d after all.<\/p>\n

UPDATE-<\/strong> Journalist extraordinaire Jessica Duchen has been tweeting a wonderfully extensive list of talented female conductors who are not currently the music director of the Baltimore Symphony. I’ll try to paste that list below.<\/p>\n

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    \"\"Jessica Duchen<\/strong>\u00a0\u200f@jessicaduchen<\/a>4h<\/a><\/small><\/div>\n

    Yes, we need more women conductors. How about some orchestras booking them? I can suggest some. First, Zoi Tsokanou. http:\/\/www.zoitsokanou.com\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

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    Heather Pawsey<\/strong>\u00a0\u200f@AstrolabeMusik<\/a>1h<\/a><\/small><\/div>\n

    @kennethwoods<\/a> @KellyLovelady<\/a> Great post! Add Rosemary Thomson, Music Director @OkSymphonyOrch<\/a> (British Columbia, Canada)<\/p>\n

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    \u00a0View conversation<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n