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/