This tour has afforded me an advantage that I normally do not have: I am able to sit in the audience at each venue for the first half of the concert and actually participate with the audience in experiencing the magical musical collaboration of four of our principal wind players in their performance of Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. As I have listened with a mixture of pride, awe, and sheer joy at the beauty of their art, I am also struck by the incredible representation of a diversity that did not exist in orchestras until quite recently.
Jennifer Montone (principal horn), Ricardo Morales (principal clarinet), and Daniel Matsukawa (principal bassoon) all hold posts that until recently were unrepresented by either their sex or ethnicity. Richard Woodhams (principal oboe) is perhaps the only soloist of the group who still fits the preconceived notion of "the orchestra musician" but by the very virture of his unsurpassed musicianship, defies profiling.
Philadelphia Orchestra lacks diversity? I beg to differ and am proud and privileged to have been able to witness this and other transformations of our glorious orchestra in my three decades of service to this vibrant institution.
Come hear us and share the pride! We'll be home soon and in the mean time, we will continue bringing the world's best music to the audiences of the world.
Gloria dePasquale
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3 comments:
Great post, Gloria. Evidently some hold a view of "diversity" that is, ironically, much more narrow than others. Keep up the good work.
DK
I like your upbeat attitude. I agree it has gotten more diverse than in the past and also probably compared with other similar institutions.
But like all good things in life, shall we strive to have more? When we erase all the prejudice, wouldn't we have a bigger pool of talents? And greater pride in knowing that one is there on one's own merit not because of the right or wrong heritage that one didn't have any conscious input.
Enjoy your trip.
Dear Mr. Anonymous,
Perhaps you should re-examine your views.
As time passes prejudice becomes less and less a part of who is granted an opportunity, whether is be race or heritage. Also there is less now that deters those from taking on and pursuing an orchestral or classical music career than ever before. It is not incorrect to say that the orchestral world was wrong in the past, but it has since publicly noted its mistakes and has implemented changes; which is more than many organizations have done.
Sincerely,
A Loyal Philadelphia Orchestra Subscriber
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