Toronto orchestra seeks ‘only fit and slim’ performers
mainGlobal News has obtained an internal email from Sheraton Cadwell Orchestras, a company ‘specialising in providing professional musicians for the upscale market in and around the Greater Toronto Area.’
Its specifications are anything but upscale.
After noting that ‘although almost all of our vocalists are fit and slim – the way our boutique orchestra would like our front line performing artists to be … two of our featured singers were not’, the email lays down the law:
‘As per our highly selective casting requirements for vocal artists taking on a prominent leading role on stage, only singers who are physically fit and slim (or at the very least, those who know how to dress strategically/suitably in order to not bring attention to their temporary physical/dietary indulgences) would be showcased with our boutique orchestras.’
This is clearly not a company that puts music or ethics anywhere near the top of its priorities.
Full story here.
Sample performance:
Oh, I see. “Orchestra” in the sense of “jazz band.”
Also:
The email goes on to set out expectations for musicians and asks “all key personnel” to “take note.”
“While our orchestra do not require our instrumental musicians to look physically fit and slim since they are essentially background wallpaper, kindly be reminded that we have a different expectation from the singers that we selectively choose to feature in our live shows, for our own purposes and at our discretion,” it said.
Well, they do make it very clear what kind of outfit they are and what you’ll be getting yourself into if you audition; so I guess that’s… good?
I have been to quite a few concerts and operas. The singers in all seem quite good of course, but to be honest only when the well indulged/fat women sing Wagner notes do I feel that it was worth it. Maria Callas lost a lot of her vocal skills after losing weight.
If I were in Canada I would just boicote these jokers
I’ve been around the Toronto music scene, very actively for some years, for decades. I’ve never heard of these people.
The giveaway was the reference to orchestral musicians as background wallpaper. These are wedding singers, bar mitzvah entertainers, etc. They do not figure in the Toronto musical landscape. I feel sorry for the musicians, but I suppose a gig is a gig.
Well, they’re probably like Google: subscribe to our philosophy and politics or out you go. A sign of the times.
ideology, not philosophy