 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-05-13 18:32
Are there any African-American clarinetist in any professional symphony orchestras? I'm only wondering because i am an african- american and when i went to solo ensemble this year I found there to be a bit of prejudice against me which at the time i did not see and which i was and still reluctant to admit was there but the more i think about it and the more people i tell the situationt to, the more i find there to be some racial bias. What happened is this, I performed Von Weber's Polacca Concerto No.2. My judge afterwards told me how wonderful my tone was and that i did an excellent job tackling such a hard piece... blah blah blah... she gave me a two because she said it was out of my reach and that i would NEVER be able to play it the way it should be played. At the time i thought nothing of it. I was always informed that the judges at our solo ensemble are often unfair and extremely strict so i thought i did well for getting a 2. That was until i realized that my two friends, both of whom play clarinet, both of whom are white, and both of whom had my same judge, received a score in the "musical effect" category and got their "other factors" and " memorization" box crossed out. On my score sheet the judge did not give me a score in the "musical effect" box, instead she gave me a 3 in the " other factors" box where she said that my piece was "out of reach". The thing that gets me is this, I performed right after my two friends, one played the 1st movement of Von Weber's Concerto No. 2 and the other who played an Irish Rhapsody or something like that. When i saw that they got scored in the "musical effect" box and not the "other factors" box i was hurt. I felt cheated. I remember her sitting there stumbling over her words as she was telling me that my piece was out of reach but my musical effect was excellent and had my piece been grade 5 i would have gotten a superior definetly... I feel as though she went out of her way to find a way to grade me down. She had a choice to give me a superior in the "Musical effect" box or go against her grading pattern of her prior performances and give me a good in the "other factors" box. Superior=1, Excellent=2, Good=3... Instead of giving me a one in my technique box she gave me a 2+. I only got a 1 in my "tone" box and "intonation" box. She even told me while i was in there that it was a hard decision and something about how I'm on a border line Superior. I don't think what happened was fair. What makes it so bad is that this took place at the School of Music on the Naval Base where i would hope that equality would reign supreme but then again, this is the same organization that is so hush hush against Gay's in the Military! Will there ever be in hope. The only way to get a fair rating around here is to audition behind a screen like we do for all-state and district band. Oh by the way... the two guys that got graded on a different scale were 4th and 8th in my district. I'm 3rd and the one taht got a superior from the judge ranked 60th in state, i ranked 41st... i think there's something fishy going on here at the beach, Virginia Beach that is.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-13 18:55
Keil wrote:
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Are there any African-American clarinetist in any professional symphony orchestras?
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I'm sure there are prejudices in music - against race, creed, color, sex, stature, ... - just like there are in almost all walks of life; one only has to look at the Vienna Symphony to see the ones that are public.
James Gholson is an African-American clarinet teacher of repute at the University of Memphis and is pricipal with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
I believe Anthony McGill, recently of Curtis, has a position as 2nd clarinet with Cincinatti.
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2000-05-13 22:19
Mark! I guess you mean Vienna Philharmonic. Vienna Symphony Orchestra is open for both sexes.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2000-05-14 01:58
Predujice? Maybe yes and maybe no. But the bottom line is, you have a life decision to make. Some of the people you encounter in this world will not like you . . . and you don't have to be black for that to be true. The good that you do today may well be overlooked or forgotten tomorrow. My advice is . . . do good anyway. Compete against yourself, not others. Be proud of what you achieve, not what is recognized. Do your best, and hold your head high. Ultimately, the manner in which you conduct yourself will set you apart from the crowd. The world is looking for people with integrity and for those who refuse to allow adversity to drag them down or make them bitter. You can be that person. Now go do it.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-05-14 06:25
I understood that some symphonies had begun to audition behind screens, perhaps 25 years ago. Prior to this time there were basically no women in the well know orchestras.
One of my theory teachers (about 25 years ago, time flys) claimed to have only been able to get a clarinet playing postion after the screen audition, being a woman.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-05-14 19:35
I don't have any specific knowledge about the Virginia Beach system, but I wonder if it would be worthwhile to start a petition asking for the School of Music to use blind judging. I'd suggest you not even mention racial bias specifically. The fact that you, an African American, are raising the question speaks for itself, so why not leave the definition of the *type* of prejudice wide open -- "bias of any kind." That way you stand the best chance of pulling in a wide coalition of people who belong to classes historically subject to discrimination in the classical music community -- women, non-whites, people in wheelchairs, people whose religions require them to cover their hair, etc.. The wider the coalition, the more community pressure you can bring to bear.
If I were in that situation, I think my tactic would be to resist making it an issue over my personal experience, because that too easily leads into a big fight about whether you, specifically, got discriminated against by that particular judge. The issue of *preventing* discrimination in general, once and for all, can get lost in the noise and you can lose along with everyone else. OTOH, a win for a coalition means you win, too. So in your place, I think I would make it clear that this is a personal issue for me, but then react to a question by asking a question: "If there's no problem with prejudice, then why would anyone object to blind judging? Why not just make sure -- in case we *might* have a prejudiced judge in the future? Does anything about blind judging worry you?" Put anyone who doesn't want blind judging on the defensive to explain why -- because blind judging is getting to be pretty standard in a lot of places now, and I don't think blind judging has caused significant problems, as long the room is set up so that the judges and the audience can hear well. OTOH, it's a simple way to solve a nasty problem -- so why *wouldn't* anyone (except a bigot...) want that problem solved?
My experience with community action is that the more limited and specific you can keep the issues, and the more clear and simple you can keep the explanation of what you want to accomplish, the more likely you are to succeed. This is a very specific issue that's easy for the general (non-musical) public to understand, so I'll bet if you get a group of fellow students and teachers together to work with the organizers of the judging, and if some of you write brief, clearly worded press releases and letters to the local editors to get the word out, you can get this system changed. Good luck with it!
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-05-14 21:29
Keil, you sound like a very talented young man. I agree with what many have said and encourage you to continue to do your best at playing and enjoying your instrument and life.
Lelia's ideas sound right on too as far as preventing prejudice in the future. It is so unfortunate and wrong that this kind of thing still happens.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-14 21:45
Pam wrote:
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Lelia's ideas sound right on too as far as preventing prejudice in the future. It is so unfortunate and wrong that this kind of thing still happens.
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We actually don't know if the judge was prejudiced, though it looks suspicious in this case.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-05-14 23:19
Thank You for your words of encouragement. Everything that was said will be taken to heart. I guess there is a job for me to do... i will be the 1st black principle clarinestist of a major symphony orchestra... that is if God's willing!
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2000-05-15 00:29
Keil wrote:
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I guess there is a job for me to do... i will be the 1st black principle clarinestist of a major symphony orchestra...
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I'll be lookin' for your name. When you become that principle, that WILL make the biggest statement. The positive always has a big impact.
I performed for a "pit" doing "Fiddler on the Roof" last weekend. They, most of the other players, had no idea that a guy using crutches to walk could play that bottle dance scene and all the other clarinet parts to the hilt every practice and performance. But the music was the real thrill.
I saw Itzak Perlman live when I was 18 and he was the inspiration that I could do what ever I wanted. While I don't teach or play "professionally", music is a big part of what my life is. It already is a big part of your life, obviously, too. I wish you well in your quest of making those who need it to think again. Do it, Keil!
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Author: Frank
Date: 2000-05-15 01:42
Sorry, Keil. I will be the first Afro-American principal clarinetist in a major symphony orchestra! :-)
Yes, discrimination does happen. Yes, it's probably happened to you (and me). Yes, it will probably happen again. No, we can't blame every bit of misfortune on prejudice.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that this is all in your head. There's an 85% chance that it's not. What I am saying is that you shouldn't use prejudice as your first explaination.
If she knocked your technique, then build your technique. If she knocked your musicality, then listen to EVERY bit of music you can, good and bad, to try to improve your musicality and musicianship. Etc... You need to use her! Use her words and actions to make yourself better.
A couple years I auditioned for the grad programs at Northwestern (Russell Dagon) and U of Mich (Fred Ormand). I didn't get in. Instead of wondering if I didn't get in because I'm black, I locked myself in a practice room for too many hours a day, bought a bunch of clarinet CD's, took lessons with the assoc. prin. in San Francisco Symphony and the Honolulu Symphony, and how I'm a Teaching Assistant at University of Northern Colorado with Bil Jackson--which I chose over the fellowship offered me from Univ. of CO at Boulder.
So what I'm trying to say is everything is motivation to do better. Use this to do so.
Good luck, and I'd be happy to have to play 2nd to me!
Frank
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-05-15 03:44
No matter what happens, don't let it get you down. Hold your head up with pride and keep trying. I too, will be watching for your name. Also, you don't have to be African- American to feel the ugly indignaty of prejudice. I've had it thrown on me for various reasons over the years. You just gotta take it with a grain of salt and keep on keepin' on and not let it drag you down to their level.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-05-15 15:56
Mark Charette wrote:
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We actually don't know if the judge was prejudiced, though it looks suspicious in this case.
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Good point -- and another reason why I favor blind judging. It not only reduces bigotted judging, but it also protects judges from unwarranted accusations. Problems can arise even under blind judging systems, if they're not *really* blind, or if there's room to doubt whether they're really blind. For instance, playing order needs to be determined by lottery, just before the competition, and the judges must not have any way to know the order in which people play.
I subscribe to a pipe organists' list where a few weeks ago, a controversy arose over a slightly different (but possibly even more common) type of predjudiced judging at an organ competition. A local organist won. Professional organists on the list who attended the competition felt that the local organist did belong in the finals, but that someone else -- someone from outside the area -- clearly should have won. The local musician had a major home field advantage to begin with, since he knew the hall and the instrument. The building is a part of a pipe organ, moreso than with any other instrument. But there were allegations that the local guy got some other advantages he shouldn't have had: The judges were seated in an area with oddball acoustics quite different from the acoustics of the main part of the auditorium where the audience sat. The local organist, with his knowledge of the building and the instrument, registered the organ to sound its best for the judges -- though it sounded quite bad to the audience! The other organists had tested the instrument in a nearly-empty hall and didn't have any advance information about where the jury would sit. There was some evidence that the local organist did know where the judges would sit. Worse, the majority of judges were local -- and there were allegations that the judges knew the order in which the musicians would compete! I'm not naming names, because I wasn't there and I'm reporting hearsay, but the whole thing smelled bad. Rightly or wrongly, that competition is now thoroughly discredited in the minds of a lot of pipe organists and their fans.
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-05-15 16:42
prejudice in music occurs in some pretty weird, sickening places...Don Byron, an african-american clarinetist (who has gone on to great reknown in modern jazz) was the clarinet player with the Klezmer Conservatory Orchestra a number of years ago. He was one of the best Klezmer clarinet players I've ever heard. His technique was untouchable, and his expressiveness approached that of a human voice. He was simply an amazing musician. The standard comment I heard was "how can he play like that he's black" (or some other less complimentary yiddish term...)....
When I thought how idiotic such a statement was and how hurtful and prejudiced it was, it made me doubt my own sanity....
IMHO, there is no room for ethnic/gender/religious prejudice in music, period. As musicians, conductors, leaders, contractors, we can adopt a zero tolerance policy, and make it clear that such prejudice is unacceptable in our presence or in anything to do with us. As a kid, I toured europe one summer with a youth orchestra. One of the violinists expressed dissatisfaction sitting next to an african-american colleague. Our conductor took action. This violinist was on the next flight back to New York. He was lucky to have time to pack.
IMHO, music is a rare place in which we can bask in beauty, emotional freedom, and equality. If we can't do it there, what good is going through life in the real world?
I sat with John Cage at dinner once. someone asked him "what is the future of american music". He frowned, and said, "I don't like your question. It shows prejudice. There is only Music. And Silence."
s.
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-16 00:57
Prejudice, whether it be racially or gender is everywhere. In the beginning of the spring semester, my professors had all the music majors watch the very sad story of Marian Anderson, a very famous African American singer. She had to fight to sing in the national opera house. The only place they would let her sing was outside in front of an open audience. This film made me cry. I couldn't believe the hatred that went on. You should love someone for their ability, not their color. Black and white are just labels, they don't determine who you are, or what you do. You are just as much like any white person in America right now. You live, eat, and breathe the same air. It shouldn't be right for you to be told that your ability is any less than because of your color. I feel that you should fight for the respect of BOTH races in this country.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-16 01:09
Kim wrote:
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I feel that you should fight for the respect of BOTH races in this country.
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One correction. All races, in every country.
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Author: connie
Date: 2000-05-17 17:47
I must say, I went to high school in VA District IIA (including VA Beach) 25 years ago, and had lots of band friends of different races and sexes, and we were not aware of any discrimination at that time. My African-American friends who were superb musicians won the same awards as the white ones. Our first-chair oboist made All-State, as he should have. But, our consciousness hadn't been "raised" quite so high back then, and I can't say racial bias *didn't* play any part.
OTOH, I've seen a great increase in acceptance of minority groups (women, African-Americans, Asian-Americans primarily) in my lifetime--just contrasting my grandparents' attitudes with those of my children, there has been a tremendous change. I am pleased and proud of my kids' attitudes that people are people regardless (just had that conversation with my 15-yr-old regarding gays yesterday). We have to give credit to the movers, like Marian Anderson, who stuck it out and proved her talent. Keil, you are in the very lucky position to be one of those "breakthrough" artists. I would like to add my support--GO GET 'EM!
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