Klarinet Archive - Posting 000159.txt from 1995/08

From: Laura R Bornhoeft <lbornhoe@-----.EDU>
Subj: Gender and Clarinet (more)
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 10:55:07 -0400

This recent discussion of gender and clarinet reminds me of an incident
in my community band a couple of years ago.

There are three of us that rotate around in the first three chairs of the
clarinet section; two women and one man. (We are all friendly, and
rotate basically for each concert in our regular season. No big fights
over solos.) As far as we're concerned, we're all co-principals, and
spend more or less equal time in the first chair. Actually, sometimes
the man begs off, pleading exhaustion (he's a high-school band director,
but I think it might also be an effect of advancing years). I should
also mention that he's the associate conductor of the band.

We agreed to work it out that way a few years ago, and the director (he's
now retired) had no problem with that. But when the programs were
printed, we found that he had listed the man as principal clarinet and us
two women as co-principals, and continued to do so concert after concert,
even after we protested. Sex discrimination? Otherwise the director is
a very nice man, and held in high esteem by everyone in the band, and the
city government too. As a matter of fact, when he retired from directing
the band last year, the city honored him by making him grand marshall of
the Fourth of July parade! He still plays in the band, on alto clarinet.

But I ramble...

Laura Bornhoeft