Chamber Music America conference is mostly about race
NewsHere’s the agenda of this week’s virtual national conference. Nothing much about music:
Friday, January 7
11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Music and Health: New Opportunities in an Evolving Field
1:00-2:00 PM | Remixing and Reimagining Music Education Through an Equity Lens
2:00-3:00 PM | Exhibit Hour
Saturday, January 8
11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Music Moving Forward – Renovation, Renewal, and Rebuilding
1:00-2:00 PM | Where Do We Go From Here: Putting Antiracist Knowledge into Action
2:00-3:00 PM | Exhibit Hour
Sunday, January 9
11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Asians in Western Classical Music: Resisting White Adjacency and Building Coalitions
12:30-2:00 PM | NextGen Session: Meeting the Moment as a Musician in 2022
2:00-3:00 PM | Exhibit Hour
3:00-4:30 PM | Closing Ceremony: Honoring Tania León and Seth Parker Woods
It’s like the arts in the Soviet era: entirely subjected to the strategies of policy. The difference being that there is no government forcing the arts to obey some ideology; these chamber music people are puffickly capable of ideologizing their field on their own accord, entirely on their free will.
It looks as a desperate attempt to make classical music more relevant to modern society, like a neglected wife trying her best to please her husband to avoid ending-up into the streets. While a better strategy for her would be to get some training and trying to build-up a life of her own.
That’s a wee bit extreme considering that most of the programming we are all getting is still copious amounts of Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky.
Except that’s not most of the programming we are getting.
Why that’s a delightfully misogynistic analogy you got there, Johnny-boy. To assume that a modern day wife relies solely on the attention of her husband while bringing no skills of her own to the union is hardly twenty-first century thinking.
If you think a bit harder, you will discover that it is this backward idea which is the irony of the case.
I disagree with you, John. During the Soviet era, politicians attended theaters and philharmonics. Tickets were often distributed free of charge to factory workers. And also many children studied in music schools for very low fees. Now someone goes to a concert for a photo on Instagram, but not in order to be a cultured person. And in general, the whole system of support for classical music collapsed due to the fact that no one is interested in people understanding high art and having high moral standards.
Boom! 100% right. Thank you
The difference being that no one is being imprisoned or killed. It dishonors the countless victims of totalitarian regimes to use historical analogies so carelessly and thoughtlessly.
The point is, of course, the fallacy of an ideology which is thrown like a blanket over an art form which has nothing to do with the contens of that ideology. Well, do I have to explain everything?
The Left’s gleichschaltung continues apace. Imagine a music conference focusing on racial purity, fascism, and anti-semitism. This exactly what the Left has given us, just at the opposite end of the political spectrum. The Left is blind to its own bull-crap, and so is the public. This can only end badly.
White adjacency?
That’s a new one. What is it?
But that is clear. It is an extension of whiteness, protruding into the space that can be found around the usual, normal whiteness.
Goodness, the academics are inventing an entirely new language revolving around their oversized fear of white people.
As George Clooney said: what else?
Why didn’t you highlight in red the closing ceremonies? It fits.
Given the number of chamber music groups — including some of the legendary ones — that have had to cease operating in the past couple of years, and the fact that some others are thriving because of their small size, I would think this organisation would have had more pressing things to discuss.
What the hell is white Adjacency? I know what adjacent means, so are we who happen to be white now some sort of devils because we are actually around?
Just a wild guess here, but is “white adjacency” the idea that people from ethnic minorities that are too successful are ultimately “white”? You see, the enormous success and impact of “Asians in Western Classical Music” rather contradicts the woke narrative. It is getting to the stage where enthusiasm for and accomplishment in Western Classical Music among people of Asian heritage is even greater than among white people. And Asian and white people are able to have long and insightful conversations together about Beethoven without talking about race. It seems that the Asian community did not get the memo that they are supposed to feel “oppressed” by Western traditions. So, the woke white saviours have to recast these rebels as “honorary whites” or something. You know, some Ivy League affirmative action programmes in the USA actually discriminate against people of Asian heritage (that is, an Asian applicant has to get a higher score than a white applicant).
Have none of you heard of the Model Minority Myth?
Look that up and you’ll understand what white adjacency is.
They are just crazy, those Americans.
Yawn, if they really wanna talk about something it should be ageism in classical music…….
And that’s bad because….??
Western society and culture was built on and built for suppressing people of color. A few symposia about addressing this abomination in one small corner of our culture is woefully insufficient, but at least it’s a start.
Western society and culture was built on and built for suppressing ALL kinds of people, including the QWERTY minorities!
Sally
You should move to the egalitarian society around the corner.
An absurd, objectionable and highly racist claim, made with no supporting evidence whatsoever.
Believe it or not, western society and culture do not revolve around coloured people. Certain other societies and cultures, yes.
And it is not only CMA, but all US-based performing arts sector service orgs including APAP (Assoc of Arts Professionals) and WAA (Western Arts Alliance) whose focus is nearly exclusively on questions of equity, diversity, and inclusion, especially with respect to Black and Indigenous populations. One could easily surmise “EDI” is the only material issue facing our field. I frankly believe these orgs are no longer serving the most pressing interests of their members, and run the risk of becoming inconsequential/irrelevant (if that’s not already happened!) by viewing every question through the diversity/inclusion lens.
Stunning! Brave!! I have no doubt that this will surely bolster the flagging industry of American classical chamber music every bit as much as these crucial DEI initiatives have boosted the burgeoning Hollywood fan base. A new awakening is surely upon us!
Misspelled awokening.
What do you expect, a winter session of Marlboro or Meadowmount?
The bigger problem here is that the conference is so short. I understand the decision to go virtual, but this is a fraction of what was provided last year. I do think they could be offering a bit more in terms of marketing, fundraising, etc., as they usually do. The showcases, which you failed to mention, are always excellent
“Nothing much about music”
Except for the 3 hours of performances every day for 3 days.
But it is a conference not a festival.
“Nothing much about music”
…except it’s all about music?
Would you be more interested if there was a lecture on all of Yuja Wang’s outfits? Would that capture your attention?
That would be interesting actually. A session on fashion and music. FIT or Parsons School could lead it.
A race to the bottom
A lecture on Yuja Wang’s outfits?
Snark…
The misstep of a new CEO at Chamber Music America. The conference was always strong in terms of important career skills, such as fundraising, teaching artistry, marketing, financial issues. I think the DEI work is great, but this is like a quarter of what the CMA Conference would ordinarily offer. Not a great look for the first conference of the new CEO. Not a great look for the new board chair either.
One can only assume that “resisting white adjacency” means eschewing the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, etc., etc. Capital plan for a *checks notes* chamber music organization.
Thankfully I shall not be going! Sounds a crashing bore with woke idiots holding forth. To be avoided by all people of sanity who wish to remain in that state.