Leigh Gill replies to me:

>>...  Without such organizations, do women get hired in
>>commensurate numbers with equally-qualified males?
>
>Can you really say that you know of one American female classical
>musician who has been denied employment in the past 20 years? I would to
>doubt it, as I would the existence of any statistics that would lead one to
>the conclusion that female musicians in the U.S.  face this.

Yes, as it happens, although I know very few classical musicians, I know
exactly one woman who was, with horror stories of how orchestras cheat
during supposedly blind auditions.  I also know that women comprise less
than half of the orchestral musicians in the Big Five orchestras.  If we
exclude harpists, that number would go down even further.  Women constitute
the majority sex in this country.  Do we explain the discrepancy solely on
relatively weaker talent? Can I buy land in Arizona sight unseen?

>Hiring practices that exclude anyone based on sex, race, or anything beyond
>qualifications is just flat-out wrong.

I heartily agree.

Steve Schwartz