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This is a copy of the press release the International Alliance for Women in Music sent to several major papers on February 12th, in advance of the 2003 US tour of the Vienna Philharmonic. It is intended mainly for journalists and thus contains much detail and documentation.
The information in this web version was updated on February 27, 2003 based on an interview with the Vienna Philharmonic's business manager, Peter Schmidl, that appeared in the Austrian magazine profil on February 24, and a brief interview with Nicholas Harnoncout in the Chicago Sun-Times on February 23.
For
additional information, contact William
Osborne Advocacy
Committee member, International Alliance for Women in Music
Originally sent February 12, 2003
Updated February 27, 2003 As
President of the International Alliance for Women in Music, I am writing
concerning the coming performance of the Vienna Philharmonic. As
you probably know, the Vienna Philharmonic has a long tradition of excluding
women and people of color from membership.
It has been their belief that they have a special aesthetic unity as an
all-male ensemble, and that people of color would destroy their image of
Austrian authenticity.[1] In
February of 1997, under intense international protest organized in great part
by our organization, the Vienna Philharmonic reluctantly voted to admit women
members. Their harpist, Anna Lelkes, who had performed with the orchestra in
an associate status for 26 years, was granted official membership. This
appeared to bring to an end the orchestra's 150 year old tradition of being an
all-male ensemble. Ms.
Lelkes was -forced- into retirement in 2001, even though she wanted to
continue working. Since the orchestra had not hired any other women, this left
the Vienna Philharmonic once again an all-male ensemble. (As
background, it should be remembered that the orchestra exists in two
formations: an opera orchestra called the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, and a
concert formation known as the Vienna Philharmonic. Musicians must complete a
three year tenure in the opera orchestra before becoming eligible to apply for
membership in the Philharmonic.) Harpist
Julie Palloc was hired to replace Ms. Lelkes, but she left the orchestra last
year over a pay dispute and never completed the three year tenure requirement
that would have made her eligible for the Philharmonic. Yet
another woman harpist, Charlotte Balzereit, has been hired to replace Ms.
Palloc, but due to the tenure requirement, Ms. Balzereit will not be eligible
for membership in the Philharmonic until 2005. It is very important to note
that the Vienna Philharmonic has always allowed women harpists to play with
them as non-members, so their employment does not represent significant
change.
In
an interview with the Austrian magazine profil on February 24th,
2003, the Business Manager of the Philharmonic, Peter Schmidl, notes that,
“Two thirds of the Philharmonic members are for allowing women into our
orchestra.”[2]
This is actually
very problematic. The competition
for positions in top orchestras is fierce, and the votes are often very close.
With one third of the orchestra a priori against women, it is
extremely difficult for them to win auditions unless they completely outplay
the men.
As
an illustration of this problem profil quotes a Philharmonic string
player: “Three
women are already too many.
By the time we have twenty percent, the orchestra will be ruined.
We have made a big mistaken, and will bitterly regret it.” Such
prejudice helps explain why only two non-harpist women have been hired in
the six years since the State Opera Orchestra/Philharmonic presumably ended its
discrimination. They are tutti violist, Ursula Plaichinger,
who won an audition on February 13, 2001 and a tutti cellist, Ursula Wex, who
won an audition so recently that we do not have the details of her audition
date or when she will begin work.[3] Due to the tenure requirement, Ms.
Plaichinger will not be able to apply for membership in the Philharmonic until
September of 2004, and Ms. Wex will not be eligible until
at least 2006.
This means that in the six years since the Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Vienna Philharmonic agreed to admit women, 21 men have been hired and only 3 women. The ratio for non-harpists is 20 to 2.[4]
This contrasts starkly with the men to women ratios for graduates of the University of Vienna's School of Music (Wiener Musikhochschule.) In the 1994/95 school year 161 women graduated and only 100 men.[5] In the 1995/96 school year the ratio was 85 women to 79 men.[6] Women graduates consistently outnumber men, but in the Vienna Philharmonic's newest employment ratios men outnumber women 21 to 3.
This 21 to 3 new-hire ratio also compares very poorly with other orchestras. In 1997, in reaction to our highly publicized protests against the Vienna Philharmonic, the all-male Czech Philharmonic also opened its doors women. Since then it has hired eight non-harpist women, including even a woman brass player, hornist Petra Cermáková.[7] (To contact the orchestra see the information in the endnote.) And during the same time period, the Zurich Opera Orchestra, which is very similar because it is a state opera house in a small German-speaking country, has hired 20 women out of a total of 30 free positions.[8]
Why has the Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Vienna Philharmonic hired only 3 women in the same time period the Zurich State Opera Orchestra has hired 20? Why is the ratio 21 men to 3 women in Vienna, and 10 men to 20 women in Zurich?
To disguise that the Philharmonic does not have any official women members, and that the State Opera Orchestra has taken six years to hire just two non-harpist women while engaging 21 men, the Philharmonic has begun taking a small number of temporary women substitutes on tours to the USA. Last year they brought along Balzereit and Plaichinger (who are not yet, and may never be, Philharmonic members) along with three women engaged only for the tour.[9] The USA is the only place in the world where the Vienna Philharmonic faces open protest, and it is the only place where the orchestra uses women substitutes.
The false impression created by these women substitutes confuses the American public and media, and allows the Vienna Philharmonic to continue excluding women from membership in the orchestra through the use of egregious tokenism.
In spite of the 20 to 2 non-harpist employment ratio, the American hosts for the orchestra's tour last year said they no longer see any problems with the Philharmonic's employment practices. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dean Corey, executive director of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, said protest against the orchestra is "kind of a moot point."[10] And Robert Harth, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, said, "It really is a non-issue now."[11]
On February 23, 2003, Wynne Delacom, of the Chicago Sun-Times interviewed Nikolaus Harnoncout, who is the condutor of the current US tour: "'It's
over,'' Harnoncourt said of the controversy about admitting female members.
Pointing out that his wife, Alice, was Concentus Musicus' co-founder and long-time principal violinist, he is more interested in talking about the
Vienna Philharmonic's upcoming Chicago concert
and the symphonies of Bruckner."[12] Given the
20 to 2 employment ratio for non-harpists, we would respectfully disagree that
the problem is over.
Within the next five to seven years, the Philharmonic will need to replace approximately 50 positions due to a wave of retirements. It is a golden opportunity for women to enter the Philharmonic, but at the current rate only 4 will be engaged by the State Opera Orchestra and thus become eligible for entry into the Philharmonic. The other 46 positions will be filled by men. Are
concerns about such employment practices really a "non-issue", a
"moot point", and "over" as Mr. Corey, Mr. Harth, and Mr.
Harnoncout would claim? Why do the
Orange County Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall -- two of
America's most important arts institutions -- take such a stance? Apparently
they are not alone. This year the Vienna Philharmonic's US tour will be the
most extensive ever. With conductor, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and soloist, Gidon
Kremer, the Vienna Philharmonic will travel to seven major cities and perform
in virtually all of America's most famous concert halls: Chicago,
February 26, 2003 - Orchestra Hall Detroit,
February 27, 2003 - Opera House Boston,
February 28, 2003 - Symphony Hall Cleveland,
March 2, 2003 - Severance Hall Washington,
March 3 & 4, 2003 - Kennedy Center Philadelphia,
March 5, 2003 - Kimmel Center New
York, March 7,8 & 9, 2003 - Carnegie Hall If
last year is any indication, these will again be joint concerts by the all
white-male Vienna Philharmonic and "Rent-A-Frau."
Naturally, we are deeply concerned that this form of egregious
discrimination is still acceptable to the world of American classical music.
We hope you will help us address this issue. After
the endnotes for this letter I have included articles on the web you might
consult for further information, along with the email addresses of two
scholars who have studied the Vienna Philharmonic for many years. Sincerely, Kris
Burns President,
International Alliance For Women in Music William
Osborne Advocacy
Committee member, International Alliance for Women in Music Endnotes, Additional reading, and Contact Addresses [1]
For concise information about the orchestra's gender and racial
ideologies see: William Osborne, "Blind Auditions and Moral Myopia"
at <http://www.osborne-conant.org/blind.htm> See also the additional reading listed below.
The racial ideology is directed specifically toward Asian musicians.
For more details see: William Osborne, "The Special
Characteristics of the Vienna Philharmonic's Racial Ideology" December
31, 1999, at: <http://www.osborne-conant.org/posts/special.htm> [2]
Peter
Schneeberger, "Die
Zwei-Prozent-Gesellschaft" profil (February 24, 2003). [3]
Peter
Schneeberger, „Die Zwei-Prozent-Gesellschaft“ profil (February 24,
2003). [4]
The fifteen to one ratio is for the last three years. The ratio for
non-harpists taken from the date the orchestra voted to admit women members
(February 1997) is even worse. [5] Hochschulbericht 1996, Band 2, S 176) [6] Statistischem Taschenbuch 1997 des BM für Wissenschaft und Verkehr. [7]
For information about the Czech Philharmonic, contact their press secretary,
Petr Vlha, at: www.ceskafilharmonie.cz
phone/fax:
+420-227059354 or
paper post at: Czech
Philharmonic Orchestra Press
and PR Dpt. Alsovo nabrezi 12, 110 01 Prague 1 [8]
Peter
Schneeberger, "Die
Zwei-Prozent-Gesellschaft" profil (February 24, 2003). [9]
Mike Boehm, "Still a Men's Club?", Los Angeles Times (Sunday, March
10, 2002.) [10]
ibid. [11]
ibid. [12]
Wynne Delacoma, "Venerable Vienna still red-hot as a music classic" Chicago Sun-Times
(February 23, 2003). This article is (or was) available at: Please
feel free to contact the two scholars listed below if you have any questions.
Both have studied the Vienna Philharmonic's employment practices for
many years. WILLIAM
OSBORNE tel. (01149) 7404 8531 [The first number is the international code for Germany.] Mr.
Osborne has written more articles about the orchestra's employment practices
than any other person. His work
has been used by media institutions around the world, including the New York
Times, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, and the BBC.
He has a website at http://www.osborne-conant.org DR. ELENA OSTLEITNER Prof.
Dr. Ostleitner is Director of the Institute for Music Sociology at the
University of Vienna. She has
studied the Vienna Philharmonic for over 25 years. William Osborne. tel. (01149) 7404 8531 ] To
learn more about the International Alliance For Women In Music, please consult
our website at: ADDITIONAL
READING William
Osborne, "Blind Auditions and Moral Myopia" at <http://www.osborne-conant.org/blind.htm>
Concise information about the orchestra's gender and racial ideologies. William
Osborne, "First Woman Performs On Vienna's New Years Concert (As A
Substitute)" January 3, 2003. <http://www.osborne-conant.org/plaichinger.htm>
This article discusses the recent appearance of tutti violist, Ursula
Plaichinger, on the Vienna Philharmonic's last New Years Concert. William
Osborne, "Art Is Just an Excuse: Gender Bias in International
Orchestras", IAWM Journal (October 1996): pp.6-14. <http://www.osborne-conant.org/excuse.htm> This article discusses the problems of gender bias in
numerous orchestras and is useful for contextualizing the situation with the
Vienna Philharmonic. William
Osborne, "Symphony Orchestras and Artist-Prophets: Cultural Isomorphism
and the Allocation of Power In Music",
Leonardo Music Journal (Vol. 9, 1999) M.I.T. Press.
<http://www.osborne-conant.org/prophets.htm>
This article discusses the intellectual and cultural history that led
to the Vienna Philharmonic's employment practices. William
Osborne, "Ozawa Conducts the Vienna Philharmonic's New Years Concert:
Tokenism and Public Relations", January 1, 2002. <http://www.osborne-conant.org/ozawa.htm>
This article discusses how Mr. Ozawa became music director of the
Vienna State Opera in spite of the Vienna Philharmonic's opposition to Asian
musicians among its rank and file.
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