A Woman's Touch
An engaging New York Times feature about Marin Alsop. There has been an interest in the whole “female conductor” idea for years, and this is certainly not the first NYT article discussing women on the podium (see paragraph 6 for my first NYT shout-out).
On one hand I understand the fascination with this topic. Yes, the number of women conductors seems disproportionate to our presence in the general population, and yes, Marin is the first to helm a major orchestra. However, I was reminded that our focus at the very top of the field often blinds us to the work being done in the vast middle.
I was home in Richmond, VA last week, and perusing the symphonic offerings in the Central Virginia area over the course of two weeks you would have thought that women had taken over the conducting world. On the table were concerts by: the Williamsburg Symphonia with their music director, Janna Hymes; the Richmond Symphony conducted by associate conductor Erin Freeman; and of course the Virginia Symphony under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, who is also music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic. (In the interest of full disclosure, I was the associate conductor in Richmond from 2005 to 2007, overlapping with my first season with the Minnesota Orchestra. And, incidentally, Marin Alsop held that very same post in Richmond in the ‘80s…)
I met and worked with Marin at a workshop held in conjunction with the Cabrillo Festival in 2001. She immediately gained my respect as both a musician and person of great integrity, and I understand completely the umbrage she takes in being questioned yet again about the lack of women in top conducting posts. It’s a tough question because you can’t win either way you answer it. On one hand, if we state that it has nothing to do with underlying prejudices and preconceptions, and that it is just a matter of time when women will take over several of the Big Five posts, we are denying the very existence of those underlying prejudices and preconceptions, which are very real. On the other hand, if we discuss how difficult it is to overcome prejudgments about women and authority, we bring the focus squarely onto the gender issue and away from music, where it should be.
The bit in the NYT article that made my hackles rise discussed Marin’s sexual orientation and how it may make her a “less intimidating…authority figure." You’ve got to be kidding. I won’t make a sweeping generalization, but speaking just from my own personal experience, the gay women I know are powerful and opinionated people who are just as comfortable as, if not more inclined than, their straight counterparts to speak their mind. And I find the notion that male musicians might be “more comfortable with an electrifying woman on the podium if she is known to be a lesbian” to be both leering and ludicrous. Why would it make a difference? Should female musicians then be more comfortable with a gay male conductor? And would there be as much verbiage about someone’s personal life in an article about a male conductor? I think not. It’s disheartening to me that the topic is even part of an otherwise informative article.
On one hand I understand the fascination with this topic. Yes, the number of women conductors seems disproportionate to our presence in the general population, and yes, Marin is the first to helm a major orchestra. However, I was reminded that our focus at the very top of the field often blinds us to the work being done in the vast middle.
I was home in Richmond, VA last week, and perusing the symphonic offerings in the Central Virginia area over the course of two weeks you would have thought that women had taken over the conducting world. On the table were concerts by: the Williamsburg Symphonia with their music director, Janna Hymes; the Richmond Symphony conducted by associate conductor Erin Freeman; and of course the Virginia Symphony under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, who is also music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic. (In the interest of full disclosure, I was the associate conductor in Richmond from 2005 to 2007, overlapping with my first season with the Minnesota Orchestra. And, incidentally, Marin Alsop held that very same post in Richmond in the ‘80s…)
I met and worked with Marin at a workshop held in conjunction with the Cabrillo Festival in 2001. She immediately gained my respect as both a musician and person of great integrity, and I understand completely the umbrage she takes in being questioned yet again about the lack of women in top conducting posts. It’s a tough question because you can’t win either way you answer it. On one hand, if we state that it has nothing to do with underlying prejudices and preconceptions, and that it is just a matter of time when women will take over several of the Big Five posts, we are denying the very existence of those underlying prejudices and preconceptions, which are very real. On the other hand, if we discuss how difficult it is to overcome prejudgments about women and authority, we bring the focus squarely onto the gender issue and away from music, where it should be.
The bit in the NYT article that made my hackles rise discussed Marin’s sexual orientation and how it may make her a “less intimidating…authority figure." You’ve got to be kidding. I won’t make a sweeping generalization, but speaking just from my own personal experience, the gay women I know are powerful and opinionated people who are just as comfortable as, if not more inclined than, their straight counterparts to speak their mind. And I find the notion that male musicians might be “more comfortable with an electrifying woman on the podium if she is known to be a lesbian” to be both leering and ludicrous. Why would it make a difference? Should female musicians then be more comfortable with a gay male conductor? And would there be as much verbiage about someone’s personal life in an article about a male conductor? I think not. It’s disheartening to me that the topic is even part of an otherwise informative article.
Labels: conductors and conducting, the business of music, women in music
posted by Sarah at
12:22 PM
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
I think you're dead on that this would never be a topic of discussion if the conductor was a man. There are dozens of well-known male conductors around the world who are known within the industry to be gay, yet no critic ever speculates on what that fact might mean to the orchestra.
Don't get me wrong - as a gay musician myself, I'm glad that Marin is open about her sexuality and confident enough to discuss it when asked. She was an early role model for me, and I'm proud to call her a friend. But to suggest that a straight woman would have a harder (or easier) time on the podium boggles the mind.
Exactly. My point has nothing to do with orientation - I don't care what people do in their private lives, and franky, neither should anyone else. What I DO care about is the existence of a double standard.
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