Linda Rogers <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>It is my understanding that the Women's Philharmonia, which is, I believe
>the orchestra that folks have been talking about, is an orchestra that was
>brought together for special concerts and recording projects and not only
>does it not offer full time employment to anyone, but indeed employs women
>musicians from a number of other orchestras.  This is no one's main job.

The fact that it is only a part-time job does not justify sex
discrimination.  How would those women feel if they were denied their
regular positions based on their gender? Yet, they deny others a part-time
gig based on theirs.

>In presenting a very special artistic program in a very special
>fashion--the music of women composers, played by women--they would
>probably be able to legally defend their practice as meeting the artistic
>needs of the particular project.

Sounds very much akin to the VPO's rationale for hiring only white males.

>Just as theater groups can defend casting practices.  (No one forces a
>theater group to take applications from both genders for a gender-specific
>role, or from all ages for a role that has a certain age attached, or to
>cast a white man in the role of Martin Luther King, etc.)

A terrible analogy, as it implies that they only want musicians who play
like women.  If the way the two genders play is fundamentally different,
then a justification can be made by orchestras who only want to hire
musicians who play like men.

>The women involved in the Women's Philharmonia are making an artistic
>statement about women in the arts in a visual way that strikes the eye
>and the heart.  It is a performance piece.

Music does not strike the eye.  It is a medium of sound.  WPO is not
living by the same rules that it wants other orchestras to play by.

-Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
Come see our web page: http://members.xoom.com/culvermusic/