Diversifying the Symphony

Artists are often perceived as outside the national economic and political discourse. They live in the realms of personal expression, beauty, and transcendence where excellence is treasured through the world and for the ages. This dream-like vista is balanced with the realistic need of a living wage, benefits, and job security to sustain this personal expression over a lifetime. Given this stark contrast, no wonder attention focuses on the one musical industry, despite it trade/guild history and workman-like processes, that lives at the nexus of these conflicting images: the symphony orchestra field. The fact is that playing in a major symphony orchestra offers the promise of regular attempts at artistic excellence and a contract for a relatively stable and financially desirable job. Not only can you rely on the orchestra’s support system, teaching opportunities are often more available due to its gravitas compared to many other musical endeavors. This all adds up to a bottom line that makes open access to this industry worth discussing.

The pristine promises of American democracy clash with the messy and largely unspoken racial history of the symphony orchestra in America, which has included segregated unions, lawsuits, overt racism in the audition process and “on the job,” half-hearted attempts to address injustices, and a general lack of principled leadership. As long as we can still go to a concert in most cities and ask, “Where’s the diversity?” there is still work to be done and a reason for discussions like this.

Forty-three years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, America can now point to having another African-American US Senator and a serious Presidential candidate, a Governor, two Secretaries of State, two Super Bowl coaches, and numerous heads of major corporations and successful entrepreneurs. This past week alone, the Little Rock School District in Arkansas was released from federal court supervision of its desegregation efforts, having met obligations regarding its commitment to equal opportunity in education. Progress is being made. We now see universities, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations such as Harvard, IBM, NPR, and the Juilliard School creating positions and offices dedicated to advancing institutional diversity. This is not in reaction to lawsuits, but for a business advantage. These organizations believe, as Intel’s President and CEO Paul Otellini does, that “diversity is key to leadership in the global economy.” They place a high value on recruiting the best people and on the ability to manage difference effectively.

For the orchestra field including the music schools that train people for it, how important or embarrassing is it that the Chicago Symphony, begun in 1890, hired its first African American in 2002? How long can we avoid responsibility by pushing for results 25 to 30 years into the future with comments like “we just need to invest in the arts education in public schools”? How long can we lay our hopes on, or hide our lack of concern behind, the advent in 1984 of “blinded auditions”?

One major manifestation of the racist view that African-Americans are inferior to whites was the belief that blacks could not play, conduct, or compose classical music; that the instruments and the music of Europe were somehow “beyond the reach” of darker-skinned individuals. In his recent book Third and a Mile: The Trials and Triumphs of the Black Quarterback, author William C. Rhoden describes a similar misconception in sports that says African-Americans could not play the position of quarterback because of the demands of the “thinking and leadership role.” He asks whether or not the many achievements of NFL quarterbacks such as Doug Williams, Steve McNair and Warren Moon over the last twenty years have finally gained the confidence of a nation. I ask whether centuries worth of evidence, from 18th century Joseph de Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-George, violinist & composer, to the present (Samuel Coleridge Taylor, composer; William Grant Still, composer; Tania Leon, composer; Jack Bradley, violinist, Denver Symphony; Donald White, cellist, Cleveland Orchestra; Sanford Allen, violin, New York Philharmonic; Ann Hobson Pilot, harp, National/Boston Symphonies; Robert Watt, French horn, Los Angeles Philharmonic; James DePriest, conductor, Oregon Symphony; Wilmer Wise, trumpet, Baltimore/Brooklyn Symphonies; Judy Dines, flute, Houston Symphony; and many others) is enough to gain the orchestra field’s commitment to ensuring equal access for all gifted artists.

Although dreams may be deferred or talents redirected, it is not a minority group so much as it is symphonic music itself that is suffering from this embarrassing lack of representation. There is a point where it will become economically and artistically unprofitable for orchestras to overlook conspicuous talent, and untenable to society that symphony orchestras in America do not do a better job of having all types of people on the podium, on stage, on staff, on the board, and on the subscription and donor list. I believe it is unwise for us to passively wait to get there.

I look forward to our virtual discussion.