For many of us, ‘The Voice’ was our first introduction to blind auditions. After years of watching American Idol and The X Factor, the meritocratic nature of this show would serve as a refreshing take on competitive reality TV. Yet, unknown to many is that blind auditions go back much farther than 2012 to 1969, when two Black musicians would challenge the very nature of the orchestra hiring system.
After being rejected for positions in the New York Philharmonic orchestra, cellist Earl Madison and double bassist Arthur Davis opened a discrimination case stating that they faced rejection because of their race. Whilst the Commission on Human Rights ruled against the musicians, it was determined that aspects of the hiring system were in fact discriminatory and functioned as an old boys’ network. In the decades following, orchestras across America would see the institutionalisation of blind auditions; incoming candidates started removing their footwear and performing behind a screen to conceal their identities. Despite their original intention of addressing racial inequality in orchestra hiring, Madison and Davis’s efforts would be transformative for women. So, we remember these men not only for their magnificent playing, but for also compelling orchestras to address gender inequality and the biases that had kept ensembles largely male.
In 1970, women comprised just under 6% of orchestra players but by the early 1980s, they made up 50% of new hires. Yet, despite this progress, a gender imbalance across most instruments still looms. In a study of the world’s 20 greatest orchestras, it was discovered that men are disproportionately represented, making up all of tuba and trombone players and the vast majority of bassoon (86%), double bass (95%), and timpani players (96%). Only three instruments were skewed in the other direction: the violin, flute, and harp, with the latter having the highest number of female players (94%). However, with blind auditions being so widely adopted, the cause of such a strong gender imbalance cannot be attributed to the hiring system but is in fact rooted in gendered traditions dating back to before the 19th century.
Throughout history women have been discouraged from playing instruments that might distort their facial features, required supposedly unladylike postures or were heavy and powerful. Moreover, brass instruments have a long association with military and industrial bands, two worlds that have long excluded women. Over time, these expectations would be passed down and learnt through childhood, a stage at which most professional players take up an instrument and are vulnerable to pressures from their parents and teachers. In such an economically tenuous industry, this has largely disadvantaged women.
If most women in orchestras play the violin, they will be largely relegated to lower-paying positions. Principal musicians, however, are paid more and in this category, men largely outweigh women, accounting for 85%. Therefore, the more instruments available to women means the more access they will have to the orchestra’s higher-paying jobs. Ultimately, this is a microcosm of our society. Cello instructor, Amy Phelps, claims that the louder and bigger instruments are identified as male because “our society does not want women to be loud.” Whilst men aren’t as disproportionally impacted as women, they also face gender stereotypes and this is just as harmful as as any denial of playing an instrument based on gender is the denial of potential talent and thus, not only hurts musicians but also orchestras and classical music as an art form altogether.
Founded almost two centuries ago, the New York Philharmonic has established a leading cultural role not only within its own city, nor country but the world as well. So, when the pandemic altered the landscape of classical music, the impact would be even more profound; in its 181-year history, America’s longest living orchestra would miss an entire season (2020-21) for the first time. With the recent opening of the reimagined David Geffen Hall, the symphony orchestra must face a reckoning not only with its re-emergence but also its representation and the impact this has on their modern audience.
Leonard Slatkin, American Conductor and Composer
“The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn’t just playing, it’s about developing future audiences and performers.”
At the time of the 1969 discrimination case, violinist Sanford Allen was the New York Philharmonic’s only Black member. More than 50 years later, just 1 out of 106 full-time players is Black: the principal clarinettist, Anthony McGill. Whilst McGill believes that blind auditions have proved effective at eliminating nepotism he also affirms that “representation matters more than people know.” According to McGill, being part of the Chicago Teen Ensemble whilst growing up on the South Side of Chicago was crucial to his early development as a clarinettist. It gave him a sense that classical music “is very normal”. Moreover, it is clear that representation goes beyond auditions and lies within the pipeline to prestigious orchestras that excludes racial diversity.
For children, overcoming existing prejudices of older generations takes determination but what can fuel the motivation and strength to pursue any instrument will be seeing representation of success at the highest levels. So, rather than idly waiting for representation to emerge from behind the audition screen, orchestras must show an active willingness and commitment in changing the landscape.
Jisoo Choi, Yale University Student
“A reassessment of the blind audition… must not minimize its work to close the gender gap in music, but it must also dispel the mythos not only around the blind audition, but around institutional “colorblindness” as a whole.”
President and Artistic Director Afa S. Dworkin founded The Sphinx Organization – a non-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging diversity in classical music by fostering opportunities for emerging young Black and Latinx musicians and arts professionals. She argues that talented musicians of colour do in fact exist and are ready, yet there is a lack of opportunity, accessibility, and mentorship. By developing a program that pairs mentors with musicians, provides performance opportunities, and awards compensatory travel audition fees, the Sphinx Organisation is using allyship to ensure that classical music and the musical future of America not only survives but thrives.
By partnering with such organisations, the New York Philharmonic will not only be able explore the immense potential of its newly renovated home, but also engage with and promote that of its future ensemble. Furthermore, it is these programs and community initiatives that we need to see more worldwide investment in; opportunities that observe intersectionality and create a space for students to unlearn societal expectations and have role models who reflect their background, identity, and minority. It’s time for musicians onstage to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.
