Vienna Philharmonic Update, December 31, 2007

There is little to report about the Vienna Philharmonic's employment
policies this year. There has been almost no change in its traditional
practice of excluding women and non-Caucasions.

Last May, violist Ursula Plaichinger became the first non-harpist woman to
become an official member of the Vienna Philharmonic. In some respects, this
might be considered a milestone, but past experience suggests that the
Philharmonic will use her position as an alibi to continue its practice of
tokenism.

Normally, members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra complete a three year
tenure and are then made members of the Philharmonic, but Ms. Plaichinger's
tenure period lasted six years.  This is notable, because the Vienna
Philharmonic has never required a male member to wait more than the usual
three years.

The Vienna Philharmonic agreed to admit women in February 1997.  Since then,
the orchestra has tenured about 25 men, but only 2 women.  The other woman
is the harpist, Charolotte Balzereit, who became a member in 2004.  (The
orchestra has always had to use women harpists, because male harpists are so
rare.) The m/f ratio for the Vienna Philharmonic almost eleven years
after it agreed to admit women is thus 134 to 2.

The Vienna Philharmonic still does not have any musicians who are visibly
members of a racial minority.  The orchestra has traditionally held that
such individuals would destroy the ensemble's image of Austrian
authenticity.  In June 2003, Yasuto Sugiyama, a world-class tubist from the
New Japan Philharmonic, won a position in the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.
From the outset, his appointment was controversial. He did not pass his
trial year at the Staatsoper and was fired. (Shortly afterward he won an
audition for the Cleveland Symphony which confirms his quality as a
musician.)  No other musicians who are visibly non-Caucasian have been hired
by the Vienna Philharmonic.  (The orchestra has two members who are half
Asian, but their appearance does not stand out.)

As of last year, the dismissal rate for women in the Vienna State Opera
Orchestra was 33%, which is at least six times higher than for men.  One of
the women fired was violinist, Iva Nikolova.  Her dismissal caused
considerable controversy.  The details of her firing reveal the conditions
women in the orchestra still face.  You can read about her experiences in
the Vienna Philharmonic here.

William Osborne