By Becky Billock- IAWM Journal (2004)
“We came on the airport shuttle this morning with the pilots for this flight,” said our neighbor in line as we waited to board our plane. “They’re women,” he added with an air of self-importance for knowing and passing along such an extraordinary piece of information. “That’s great,” I said enthusiastically, and my husband added that it was nice to be seeing more of them around. “Yeah, well, the planes pretty much fly themselves these days…” was his response, delivered like some kind of punch line. Being a bit slow with witty retorts, I just stood there somewhat dumbfounded.
“The perception that women succeed only when the standards are lowered, or when less expertise is required, is not a new phenomenon. It happens in every field, from aviation to medicine, from academics to politics, from sports to music. And in each field there are practices that lessen or increase the effects of these perceptions. Such practices were the topic of a lively debate in 2003 on the IAWM listserv. We discussed gender issues in musical competitions and the social practices that influence women’s success in musical careers.
“The discussion was sparked in part by an experience that I shared with the other members. Several of my piano students performed pieces by women for their yearly adjudications. It was evident to me that the judge reacted negatively to the concept of women composers—his comments and responses to all three of my students who played pieces by women were the same, although the pieces contrasted greatly. He referred to each piece as being “just a little mood piece” and told the students they would need to work extra hard to make it interesting, since it lacked “content.” Naturally, feeling very frustrated by this, I wanted feedback from my IAWM colleagues about similar experiences they may have had.
“The stories started pouring in. William Osborne shared two anecdotes about trombone students of his wife, Abbie Conant. After one gifted female student had placed first in a competition, the all-male adjudicators gave the first prize to the boy who came in second since “girl trombonists are not capable of further development.” Another of Conant’s students was denied a position in an orchestra for which she had auditioned, simply because the trumpeter refused to work with a woman. It was so clear that she was the one most qualified for the position that even her competitors were outraged.
“Negative attitudes towards women also show up in academic settings. When proposing to write her master’s degree study on women composers, Roberta Lamb remembers her history professor telling her, “Don’t bother. There aren’t any. Study the wives of the great composers.” Several years later she encountered another professor who marked her down for not crediting the source of her bibliography on women in music. She had to explain that the source was herself, as no such bibliography existed before she conducted her research.
“Sometimes the discrimination occurs closer to home, coming from one’s own peers. Deborah Hayes told of a DMA student at the University of Colorado who chose to play Amy Beach’s Baltic Variations because of their virtuosity and bravura. Although the audience was appreciative, some of her fellow students seemed to think that her choice of repertoire was politically, rather than musically, motivated.
“There are two separate but related targets of discrimination here—the first is the gender of the composer (a student plays a piece written by a woman), and the second is the gender of the musician (the student herself is female). Since both of these scenarios are compounded and highlighted by competition, the IAWM discussion took a turn towards the pros and cons of contests and adjudications. Competition allows for an outside person to place a value not only on musical competence but also on gender itself. We would all agree that it is an atrocity to have students judged according to their gender or the gender of the composer of their selected pieces. So what do we do? We are faced with the age-old question of whether to try to change the system from within or abandon it—to fix it or nix it.
“In our online discussion Linda Seltzer strongly opposed competitions for the following reasons: (1) competition is a scaled-down version of war, so children who participate in competitions are nurturing this war-like mindset; (2) when competitions are taken very seriously, the judges of such competitions are given an undue amount of power within the musical community; and (3) the regimentation surrounding the choice of literature and the requirement of technical perfection create boring, automaton musicians who may be able to win international competitions, but who bring no personal expression to the music, and who are, in fact, not interesting to hear.
“Several listserv members agreed with Linda and shared their own anecdotes from competition settings. Susan Lackman described a contest judge who adjudicated her daughter’s performance: “As [my daughter] took to the stage, the judge...asked her where her accompanist was. The answer, that the piece was unaccompanied, was met with a doubtful but grudging ‘well, all right.’” One has to wonder about the competence of judges who make such comments, particularly when the music is sitting in front of them, as it was in this case.
“The argument against competitions can also extend beyond any considerations of gender discrimination. My own experience with competitions has been decidedly negative. I can remember playing in a concerto competition and not getting chosen, although I played extremely well. Several weeks after the competition I learned other details of the story. One of the judges had the nerve to tell my teacher that I was the judges’ first choice, but since his (my teacher’s) students had won the competition every year, then to be “fair” they needed to pick someone else’s student. At another competition I was yelled at (yes, it was actually yelling, as I came off the stage!) because my piece was too long, even though I had checked ahead of time to make sure it would be acceptable. So my personal experiences, while not linked to gender, discouraged me from further pursuit of competition.
“An alternative position, however, is that competition is not going to go away just because we ignore it. Competition holds a central role in the musical community—it is a tool for streamlining musicians into a professional performance career (or perhaps for straining them out of one). Barring a few notable exceptions, most career performers are launched through winning contests. A look at the faculty credentials at most universities reveals that winning competitions carries substantial weight. Few musicians are chosen for a position teaching applied music at a university without at least a representative track record in the competition arena. If women musicians turn a blind eye to competitions, then only men will win (by default), and subsequently only men will appear on the concert circuit, only men will hold university positions, and the stereotype that women aren’t as “good” will be endlessly perpetuated.
“Gaining respect and recognition requires active participation. We, as women musicians, are already trying to break out from under a long-standing patriarchal shadow, and we cannot afford to be further marginalized. Choosing not to involve ourselves in the current musical community (flawed as it may be) is also choosing to have no influence on the future of that community. Although many changes are needed, change is a slow process.
“Several discussion participants shared specific ways in which we can influence competitions and other judged events towards a more gender-inclusive experience. Sondra Howe pointed out the importance of including music by women in contest lists at all proficiency levels. In adjudications that require specific repertoire for each level, one can see a pattern emerging. The early levels contain many pieces by women, but in the advanced levels, women composers are not represented at all. It is easy to see what kind of message this conveys, not only to the students who play the repertoire, but subconsciously to everyone involved in the competition— judges, teachers, parents.
“Others also made constructive suggestions about impacting the musical community. Lucille Goodman spoke of a musical group in the 1960s in which the students picked an instrument that was stereotypically played by the opposite gender. Several women shared experiences from when they themselves were judges, and discussed how they focused on giving both profitable criticism and encouragement. Assessing adjudicators’ comments was another theme in the discussion, or how to help students constructively process outside opinions gleaned from participating in a competition.
“One teacher mentioned the pride that her female students gained when they found out that women could compose. Another teacher discussed how she incorporates women composers into the repertoire that her students learn each year. All those who contributed to the discussion made it clear that the spirit of perpetuating women’s music is alive in individual studios and schools. The challenge is to expose this experience to a wider population.
“Although it may be a novel idea to some, women can fly planes without the help of “auto-pilot.” Women can play the trombone. Women can compose. Does competition help or hinder women’s success in these careers? The debate continues. Hearing the experiences and opinions of others helps to shape our understanding of and attitude towards the role of competition in music, and provides a vision for impacting the future of the musical community. I would like to thank those who shared their stories.*
*The IAWM listserv discussion referred to in this article took place between March 12 and March 24, 2003. If you would like the postings in their entirety, please contact Dr. Billock at rbillo@u.washington.edu.
Becky Billock recently earned a DMA in piano performance at the University of Washington, with research in the area of 20th-century women composers. Currently, she is a free-lance pianist and private instructor in Pittsburgh, PA.