In case you had any interest in patronizing the NY philharmonic . . .

[Anonymous]

Please read this article first.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/jforum.page?module=posts&action=insert&forum_id=6

[Anonymous]

Sorry, bad link

https://www.vulture.com/article/new-york-philharmonic-sexual-assault-scandal.html

[Anonymous]

If I had the chance, I would still go. Cancel culture needs to be…canceled.

[Anonymous]

That was a fascinating article and well researched. However, it should be understood that in 2010, DNA testing was not 100% accurate and was subject to error as well as matches of related or unrelated people. A few loci in a short section of DNA were compared rather than the entire genome as people might assume. Thus, it has happened that people have been matched in error, due to this. So the other evidence of her state that night and the next morning are more valuable.

[Anonymous]

More people speaking out on the misogyny at the NY Phil. Feels like the flood walls are about to break open:

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET A JOB IN THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC?

I was never able to do it. No women, in fact, have ever held the principal oboe chair there. The orchestra is 181 years old. There’s been quite an anti-woman history, actually, held by owners of that oboe chair. I was actually kind of sort of close once. I played a trial week under Lorin Maazel. It was h#ll, if I’m to be honest, though I enjoyed playing for Maazel. The English horn player, Thomas Stacy, was an absolute complete d#ck to me. It was unreal. Later I found out that he slept with his men students. And later than that, a dear student of mine told me how Stacy tried to sleep with him when he was giving a masterclass. Anyway, I didn’t get the job and Liang Wang did. My teacher (and also Liang’s teacher), a Big Fancy Man, called the NYPhil’s personnel manager to find out why I didn’t get the job. I hadn’t asked him to, nor did I want him to, nor did I need him to—I was already a professional with a good job. Anyway, the personnel manager, his buddy for decades, told him they didn’t like my vibrato on tied notes. And so I got a phone call chewing me out about my vibrato on tied notes. And I was sweet to my teacher and thanked him for the call. I hope the NYPhil has been enjoying Liang’s vibrato on tied notes.

But it’s not about me. Most people can’t get a job in the New York Philharmonic. And that’s okay. Let’s talk about some people who did get jobs in the New York Philharmonic, Amanda Stewart and Cara Kizer. They were the first and second women to hold tenure-track positions in the brass section at the New York Philharmonic.

The orchestra is often touted as great for women because of some bullsh#t previous article in the NYTimes saying that there are now more women than men in the orchestra. For those of us who knew this “secret” when that article came out, it rang just as hollow as the recent statement from the Musicians of the New York Philharmonic. The fact is that women are under-represented as leaders there (only 4 principals out of 16, including a second violin, are women), there is only one woman brass player (the third ever, with the first two not getting tenure), and women don’t exist at all in the following sections: bass, clarinet, trumpet, trombone/tuba, and timpani/percussion. The large number of women come from the violin section of 29 players total. I believe just two of those 29 players to be men, including, most tellingly, the concertmaster, the most powerful player in the orchestra. (They’ve never had a woman concertmaster or music director at the NYPhil, either.) It’s funny that New York Magazine and not New York Times finally broke Cara's story. And that the New York Times was focusing on this bullsh#t, meaningless metric. It’s meaningless because everyone knows—and knew—what is actually acceptable treatment of women at the NYPhil.

Most titled positions in most Big Fancy Orchestras are not hired blindly (like that solo oboe position I referenced.) The mostly likely positions to be filled blindly are indeed section string positions, positions like the ones so many women in the violin section hold. When those people win auditions blindly, they beat out huge numbers of people, representing years and years of personal work, practicing hours upon hours a day since they were small children, and often borrowing and spending tons of money for educations and instruments. When people win auditions which are not blind, it represents similar work and excellence, too. Every person sitting on that stage represents hundreds, if not thousands, of other people in the profession who tried to get there but failed—people like me.

I don’t know if Amanda and Cara’s auditions were blind. But what I do know is that as the first two women in that brass section, of all brass sections, they must have presented themselves as absolutely extraordinary candidates. They likely had to do even better than the best men. And for that reason, the way the orchestra threw away their excellence should enrage us all. Alan Gilbert said Amanda didn’t “lay it down enough.” How did she go from everything was great to “serious concerns” within two months? By supporting a r#pe victim in an absolutely disgusting, misogynist environment, that’s how.

I cannot believe that none of these men, from Gilbert to the Brass Men, had the b@lls—yes, b@lls—to call this out. I cannot believe they would all just circle the wagons and oust these women when they knew there was a r#pe investigation ongoing. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about things other than their playing when presenting themselves for jobs. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about walking alone on a street at night. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about a quid pro quo s#xual overture at work. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about walking around a man blocking a stairway. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about how best to react to a man pinching their a## at work. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about how to react to a man grabbing their bre#sts—or worse—at work. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve never had to think about how to negotiate a tenure process while being a r#pe victim.

So, the standard for joining the ranks as a brass player in 2011 at the New York Philharmonic was the following: If you’re a man: you have to play super great and better than thousands of other people. If you’re a woman: you have to play super great and better than thousands of other people and be willing to be r#ped, or watch other women get r#ped, and stay silent about it. Women joining the orchestra must be willing to be f#cked against their will not just by some trumpet player, but by the whole orchestra. What egregious rot.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/VGLdKFHfAdH2Psfi/?mibextid=ox5AEWI

[Anonymous]

So what, I go to listen to the music.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what, I go to listen to the music.

Agreed. I'm so sick of this airing of private business that has nothing to do with the mission of an organization. I. DON'T. CARE.

[Anonymous]

It's a rant for someone who didn't get a job. It's highly competitive with a few spots. Like any orchestra, including youth orchestra's. One can see why

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a rant for someone who didn't get a job. It's highly competitive with a few spots. Like any orchestra, including youth orchestra's. One can see why

oops, why they weren't hired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please read this article first.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/jforum.page?module=posts&action=insert&forum_id=6

OP, you’re a trouble maker. I’m canceling you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had the chance, I would still go. Cancel culture needs to be…canceled.

Cancel culture? Do you mean women who have been sexually assaulted not staying quiet about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the chance, I would still go. Cancel culture needs to be…canceled.

Cancel culture? Do you mean women who have been sexually assaulted not staying quiet about it?

Get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the chance, I would still go. Cancel culture needs to be…canceled.

Cancel culture? Do you mean women who have been sexually assaulted not staying quiet about it?

People attend for the music. Keep your drama out of it.

[Anonymous]

I'm in that world and this story rings true.

I fully believe this Mickey raped the new hire after drugging her, and it's disgusting that he was reinstated despite a preponderance of evidence. THIS is the kind of person who should be fired forthwith, as the New York Phil tried and failed to do. The mediator Bloch who pushed for shelving the matter is a disgusting person.

The classical music world is rife with such stories, as is the ballet world.

Closer to home, Jonathan Carney, Baltimore Symphony concertmaster and artistic advisor to the kids at Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, was accused of sexual harassment by a fellow BSO musician. He was cleared, but he has a reputation, and has had for years (not with underage kids, which is why MCYO kept him, I suppose).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in that world and this story rings true.

I fully believe this Mickey raped the new hire after drugging her, and it's disgusting that he was reinstated despite a preponderance of evidence. THIS is the kind of person who should be fired forthwith, as the New York Phil tried and failed to do. The mediator Bloch who pushed for shelving the matter is a disgusting person.

The classical music world is rife with such stories, as is the ballet world.

Closer to home, Jonathan Carney, Baltimore Symphony concertmaster and artistic advisor to the kids at Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, was accused of sexual harassment by a fellow BSO musician. He was cleared, but he has a reputation, and has had for years (not with underage kids, which is why MCYO kept him, I suppose).

The guy was cleared and you're bringing him up by name on a thread not related to him.

False accusations should be vigorously criminally pursued. At some point, there has to be a penalty for victimizing people.