Klarinet Archive - Posting 000040.txt from 2008/11

From: Alexander Brash <brash@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] After Drucker
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:45:52 -0500

And I should add, I'm fairly certain that several European Orchestras
still practice mandatory retirement? Though the entire model there is
different. Please correct me if this is mistaken.
On Nov 8, 2008, at 5:41 PM, Alexander Brash wrote:

> I hope we realize there was a time when 65 *was* the mandatory
> retirement age for orchestral players in this country. Unless we
> expect that our forebears were all notoriously evil, immoral men,
> and we have now far surpassed them in "correctness" - then a
> mandatory retirement age is a perfectly acceptable thing to
> consider. The societal "norm" today may consider this age
> discrimination, but it's perfectly reasonable to posit that in some
> areas, it's warranted. The number of available jobs is tiny, the
> number of people seeking jobs each year is enormous. There is
> certainly a sense of "fair play" in letting someone else have a go
> of it - or at least forcing a reaudition of the position (remove
> lifetime tenure - restrict to 10 year terms, or something like this).
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 8, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Dan Leeson wrote:
>
>> This argument, posted by Alexander Brash, about age is bankrupt
>> and worthless. It's nothing more than the idea that if Anton
>> Stadler were alive and playing today, these terrific "kids" who
>> you talk about would mop the floor with him, and that includes
>> Baerman and everyone else, who are collectively considered old
>> farts. The reverse may be true. These old guys could play circles
>> around the young kids.
>>
>> Drucker could very well keep on playing. His playing has lost no
>> noticeable power. I suspect that he is simply tired of it, and the
>> physical rigors of the job get more and more difficult as one gets
>> older. But that doesn't mean that he has to retire because he is
>> falling apart.
>>
>> To make a broad brush statement that says, effectively, that older
>> players should get out of the scene and let the kids, who can play
>> circles around them, take over their positions, is not only
>> rewarmed nonsense, if you utter that view in a real live situation
>> you could be charged with age discrimination..
>>
>> Dan Leeson
>> dnleeson@-----.net
>>
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