Posted by Frank Gazda on June 30, 2003 at 13:41:15:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Article on new tubist in Vienna posted by Yeah, on June 30, 2003 at 09:07:27:
The trombonist in question is Abbie Conant, who won a blind audition for principal trombone of the Munich Philharmonic and then endured years of verbal abuse, being demoted to 2nd, not being allowed to play principal when the music director was there, being paid less than the other principals, and finally have to play a test for the president of the German Trombone Association to keep her job. She is also the one of the finest trombonists I've ever heard, and when she played for said President he essentially put in his report "She's great, what's your problem?" This was finally resolved in the mid-1990's, not the 50's or the 20's.
Change does happen gradually over time, but only if people are questioning the status quo and pushing for reform. Without the civil rights marches of the 50's and 60's this country may still ahve "seperate but equal". Maybe not, but without the push for change it happens more slowly, if at all.
If you reread my post no where did I say anything about quotas. The word quota is sometimes thrown around to scare everyone when people start questioning biased hiring practices.
The VPO has many non-Austrian members. If you read the article, it says that non Austrians are hired, so long as they can pass for austrian from the audience. Is a British (or American, one of the trombonists for years has been American, I think) musician more able to play in the Viennese tradition than an Asian musician?
Change will happen because of people "stirring the pot". I'm terribly sorry if it offends you "yeah". Obviously these "agitators" have nothing better to do and are just "causing trouble". Maybe they should all just go get jobs and hope everyone wakes up one day and the world is a better place for everyone (not just some).
Frank Gazda