Save these dates!
March 4 and 5 at 8PM
Orange County (CA) Performing Arts Center: 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
The VPO's Costa Mesa concerts are being presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County in cooperation with The Friends of the Vienna Philharmonic. Let the presenters know what you think about showcasing an orchestra which forbides membership to women musicians, period!
Jane Grier, President of the Board
Dean Corey, Executive Director
Philharmonic Society of Orange County
2082 Business Center Drive, Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92715-1113
voice (714) 553-2422
fax (714) 553-2421
email: psmail@ocartsnet.org
web page: http://www.ocartsnet.org/philharmonic/index.htm
Be sure to check out the "history" of the VPO on this page, which makes no mention that women are excluded from membership! Read the letter they worriedly sent to all their subscribers in response to the negative publicity already received.
Richard Colburn
Friends of the Vienna Philharmonic
1120 La Collina
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Feb.5, 1997
Dear Friends,
One way in which the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN IN MUSIC (IAWM) advances its mission is by initiating advocacy work on behalf of women in music. To that end the IAWM is committed to bringing public attention to the historical exclusion of women musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO).The VPO brings with it to our country its century-old record of prohibiting membership to women.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4th & 5th, the VPO will perform at Segerstrom Hall, in the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Dr. (across from the South Coast Plaza Shopping Center) Costa Mesa, CA. The IAWM invites and encourages interested persons all over California to participate in a peaceful grass-roots demonstration to protest this discriminatory policy.
We will meet at 6 P.M. at BIRRAPORETTI'S (Italian Restaurant) 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714-850-9090) on TUESDAY, MARCH 4th. If enough people commit in advance, we will meet again on Wednesday, March 5th. People who are able to eat dinner first, please come at 5 P.M. If 20-25 people will eat - let me know - we can reserve tables for up to 25 people without charge.
At 6 P.M., we will go outside in front of the restaurant, distribute informational literature, discuss where to stand, and walk out to our posts across the street by 7 P.M. We should be finished by 8 P.M. when the concert starts.
BIRRAPORETTI'S is located in the South Coast Plaza Shopping Center, on the west side of Bristol, next to Sears, at the foot of a white pedestrian bridge that spans Bristol St. Exit BRISTOL ST. from the 405 freeway (from north or south) proceed north, and turn left into the Plaza; lots of parking.
IMPORTANT! IF YOU ARE ABLE TO JOIN US, PLEASE E-MAIL, FAX , or CALL IN YOUR COMMITMENT TO:
(Los Angeles) NORA GRAHAM, Chair, IAWM West Coast Protest Coordinator
norazg@aol.com
FAX: 213-874-3013
Ph: 213-874-4545
or:
(Orange County) JOANN PERLMAN, So.Coast Orange County NOW
Ph: 714-497-1709
jsperlman@aol.com
IF THERE ARE NOT SUFFICIENT COMMITTED PEOPLE EACH NIGHT, WE FEEL IT WOULD BE UNWISE TO APPEAR
We will need a phone and /or FAX number, and an e-mail address if you have one, to keep you apprised of any updates, preparation of signs, etc.
This is a chance to fight blatant discrimination against women. Despite very recent claims by the VPO that they plan to accept women, our contacts in Vienna inform us that there is NO such plan yet in place, only obfuscation. Please encourage all interested persons to contact Nora or JoAnn for further information. For those unable to participate in this protest, (see back of page) we ask you to call or write and express your indignation to the sponsors and the media.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.
Nora Graham, Chair, West Coast Protest Coordinator
Web sites for more information:
Save these dates!
Demonstrations:
Friday, March 7th and Saturday, March 8 at 7PM
Sunday, March 9th at 1PM
Meet in front of Carnegie Hall: 881 7th Avenue (at 57th Street)
"Celebrate Women" concerts held after each protest.
The VPO's New York concerts are being presented by Carnegie Hall in cooperation with The Friends of the Vienna Philharmonic. Deloitte and Touche LLP is a sponsor of the series on which the VPO is appearing. Let the presenters know what you think about showcasing an orchestra which forbides membership to women musicians, period!
Issac Stern, President
Judith Arron, Executive Director
Carnegie Hall Corporation
881 Seventh Avenue
New York, N.Y 10019
Tel: (212) 903-9621
Fax: (212) 581-6539
Email: feedback@carnegiehall.org
Deloitte and Touche LLP
Sponsors of the "International Festival of Orchestras II" series at Carnegie Hall
William Parrett, Vice Chairman
Two Word Financial Center
New York, NY 10281
Tel: (212) 436-2301
Fax: (212) 436-6000
Email: wparrett@dttus.com
Richard Colburn,
Friends of the Vienna Philharmonic
1120 La Collina
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
On Tuesday, March 4th, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians is hosting a press conference for the International Alliance for Women in Music with NYC-NOW to protests of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's discrimination against women musicians at New York concerts. Please join us at the Club Room of Local 802, 322 West 48th Street, NYC at 10:30 AM. Everyone is welcome!
On March 7,8 & 9 the VPO will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The IAWM, Local 802 and NYC-NOW are sponsoring public protest action against the VPO's policies at these concerts. We invite all interested persons in the greater New York area to join us in this effort.
Don't miss this chance to fight discrimination against women musicians. Please forward information about the planned demonstration as widely as possible, and encourage all those who are interested to join us at the protests..
Back to New York City
Top of Protest Page
Back to the ZAP the VPO page
These are some of the slogans the "Zap the VPO" email list came up with for placards. Use one of these, or...make up your own.
Back to Costa Mesa
Back to New York City
Top of Protest Page
Back to the ZAP the VPO page
Here's information for individual letters including contact information for the VPO and their presenters, along with lots of other addresses (roughly sorted into target groups) for those who wish to contact folks further afield than where the VPO's performing in the United States in March.
Remember to include your phone number in contacts with the media!
March 4 & 5, 1997
Newspapers
Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, CA
Orange County Edition of the Los Angeles Times
Orange Country Register
March 7, 8 & 9, 1997
Newspapers
Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
The New York Times
The Village Voice
New York Newsday
Crain's New York Business
New York Daily News
New York Post Web Edition
Resident Publications Online!
Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition
Radio
WNYC AM (820 ) (212) 669-7743
WNYC FM (93.9) (212) 669-7800
WFUV - 90.7 FM (Fordham University)
ABC RadioNet - New York
WABC 770 AM
WBGO - 88.3 FM
WCBS Newsradio 88 AM
WFMU - FM 91.1
WHTZ 100.3 FM
WKTU - FM 103.5
WMXV - FM 105.1
WNEW 102.7 FM
WNYE - 91.5 FM (New York City Board of Education)
WNYW Foxtropolis Channel 5
WOR - AM 710
WQCD -101.9 FM
WRSU - FM 88.7
Television
WNBC NBC Channel 4
WNET Channel 13
There are many on-lines sources for media addresses and contact information, including the Feminist Majority Foundation's News Media Online and Ecola's Newstand.
Orange Country Register
Classical Music Critic - Scott Duncan
P.O. Box 11626
Santa Ana, CA 92711
phone: 714-953-7791
fax: 714-664-5052
Orange County Edition of the Los Angeles Times
Classical Music Critic - Chris Pasles
The New York Times
Edward Rothstein, Chief Music Critic
Ira Rosenblum, Assistant to the Music Editor
Stephen Holden, Critic
Bernard Holland, Critic
Alan Kozinn, Critic
Jon Pareles, Critic
Anthony Tommasini, Critic
Peter Watrous, Critic
other folk at The New York Times:
Joseph Lelyveld, Executive Editorial Office
Daniel Lewis, Cultural News Editor
William Honan, Chief Cultural Correspondent
Susan Edgerley, Assignment Editor
Paula Schwartz, Arts and Leisure Editor
The Village Voice
New York Newsday
Friday, March 7 at 8:15PM, Saturday, March 8 at 8:15PM, Sunday, March 9 at 4:00PM
CAMI Hall 165 W. 57th Street NYC
(just across the street from Carnegie Hall)
Three concerts celebrating women composers, performers, and compositions with feminist perspectives will be presented immediately after the protests at Carnegie Hall against the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's policy of excluding women musicians from membership based on their gender, not their ability. The concerts will be held at CAMI Hall, 165 W. 57th Street, in New York City. All performers are donating their services in support of women musicians; admission is free.
On Friday March 7, 1997 at 8:15PM The Wasteland Company presents William Osborne's "Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano, " a music theater work for performance artist and quadraphonic electronics featuring Abbie Conant. The program will conclude with Pauline Oliveros performing her compositions "Pauline's Solo" and "Old Sound New Sound Borrowed Sound Blue," on the accordion. CAMI Hall, 165 W. 57th Street, in New York City. Free admission: for more information call (212) 942-6024.
On Saturday March 8, 1997 at 8:15PM The Wasteland Company presents William Osborne's "Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano, " a music theater work for performance artist and quadraphonic electronics featuring Abbie Conant. The program will conclude with compositions by Eve Beglarian, Anne LeBaron, Kristin Norderval, Judith Weir, and Leslie Wildman featuring Kristin Norderval, soprano with Twisted Tutu (Eve Beglarian and Kathleen Supove) and Nurit Tilles. CAMI Hall, 165 W. 57th Street, in New York City. Free admission: for more information call (212) 942-6024.
On Sunday, March 9 at 4:00PM The Wasteland Company presents a "Celebration Concert" with performances of compositions by composers as varied as Janis Joplin, Wolfgang Mozart, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. CAMI Hall, 165 W. 57th Street, in New York City. Free admission: for more information call (212) 942-6024.
Back to New York Protests
Top of Page
W.A. Mozart - Quartet in G Minor
Anna Rubin - Crying the Laughing and Golden
Michael Daugherty - I Loved Lucy
Toru Takemitsu - Toward the Sea
Gershwin/Janis Joplin - Summertime
William Osborne - The White Beast
Ruth Crawford Seeger - Preludes for Piano
Jennifer Higdon - Rapid Fire
Grazyna Bacewicz - Tema Con Variazioni
Back to New York Protests
Top of Page
The International Alliance for Women in Music and local chapters of the National Organization for Women (South Orange County NOW and NYC-NOW) congratulate the Vienna Philharmonic in finally taking the first step on the road toward equal opportunities for women musicians - for all musicians - by granting membership status to Anna Lelkes.
This announcement sets an historic precedent for the VPO, and satisfies the first point of the VPO WATCH, which outlines three points to ensure that membership is open to all qualified musicians based solely on their ability on their instrument without regard to gender, race, or religion. The VPO can expect continued protests until all three goals of the VPO WATCH are met.
P
Preempt further protests by dismantling your all-male ideology.
O
Offer an orchestral audition procedure for the VPO and the State Opera Orchestra that would provide equal opportunity for all musicians with decisions based solely on musical ability, not gender, race or religion.
W A T C H
The VPO WATCH intends to monitor the actions of the orchestra until such time as the three points of the WATCH are well established with visible results.
"V" of our three points of watch can now be checked off. The final two points are not, and that is why the demonstrations in California and New York are continuing.
Despite this decision, the VPO has not changed the makeup of the orchestra which appears on the stage today: after all, they have been playing with Ms. Lelkes as harpist for over twenty years. Only her status has changed -- not the composition of the orchestra. Granting Ms. Lelkes membership status "effectively immediately" (after 26 years) is a far cry from actually admitting women as members in the first place. The audition procedures remain unchanged, with photographs required with the audition application, and final rounds of the auditions played without a screen protecting the applicants' gender and ethnic identity.
Members of the VPO refer to the presence of a female harpist as "so far at the edge of the orchestra that it doesn't disturb our emotional unity." Granting membership to Ms. Lelkes on the eve of an international tour and in response to mounting public protest and media attention is an admission of their sexist policies, the first step in the long and difficult process of change.
Back to "Zap the VPO"
Top of Demonstration Page