#GAReads | When Women Take the Baton
photo credit: Radek Grzybowski, via Unsplash
Women who aspire to the conductor’s podium may face similar hurdles to those in any other profession, ranging from networking difficulties and salary discrimination to traditional gendered assumptions about the nature of leadership. But classical music presents a unique, additional set of obstacles.
For one, the industry remains staunchly embedded in tradition. While visual arts, dance, and theater tend to be open to experimentalism, classical music is generally less keen on innovation; orchestra repertoires across the world consistently recycle the works of composers who are long dead. In this environment, audiences tend to resist change, and big-budget orchestras are particularly averse to risk, hoping not to alienate their patrons.
Read Maya Chung’s full article at The New York Review of Books here…