Women dominate Avery Fisher career grants
NewsThe committee, chaired by Deborah Borda, has chosen the following to receive $25k grants and other career help:
Double-bass soloist Nina Bernat; guitarist Bokyung Byun; flutist Emi Ferguson (pictured); pianist Evren Ozel, pianist; and the Isidore String Quartet.
Three of the four solo winners are female.
If they were chosen because they are ‘female’ then that’s worth noting, but if they were chosen because they stand out artistically and would benefit from the cash boost and CV headline, then bravi to them. These days we cannot always be so certain what factors are at play (see: OSCARS) but I see a gifted cohort
All of the winners are outstanding. Not a weak link in the bunch. Plus, if we are being provocative, all four members of the quartet are men, so seems like it’s 5 men and 3 women?
In 2022, four of the five solo winners were men. I don’t recall a headline last year about men dominating the cycle.
Gotta love that the cover girl for this story is a privileged white woman steeped in inherited wealth and did I mention white privilege? Wish they’d give those grant to promising young artists with actual original ideas who actually need it
I cannot speak to her financial situation, but:
a) the Avery Fisher Career Grants are based exclusively on artistic merit and anticipated future artistic impact in the eyes of the Executive Committee, and
b) Emi Ferguson is a truly original performer, arranger, programmer, connector, thinker…all of which I am certain will lead to a unique and important career in the coming years!
The system that makes these selections is a colonialist heap of nepotistic trash. “Artist excellence” doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. Money and privilege are the real creators of the “ideas” the “Establishment” deems worthy of consideration in the first place.
True. And why on earth are they giving a career grant to a flutist? The music profession is already wildly overpopulated with flutists. Someone like this will just exacerbate the problem. She teaches other flutists & will lead them to believe that they can somehow make a career out of playing the flute. There are so few jobs & so many well trained flutists now, it’s unlikely.
Any career grants made to flutists, in my opinion, should be to retrain them for professions where they can actually make a living.
And, to make matters much worse, she’s absolutely gorgeous to look at!!! The complete catastrophe.
I am thrilled that no men were permitted or chosen to win!!
Borda continues to smash the glass ceiling with her magnificent vision!! I hope she also revokes any and all previous male-awarded grants. Or pays the female non-awardees reparations.
Evidently these awardees were not required to produce evidence of financial need
You are giving the Bach family a bad name – and they’ve never had one before!!
Would this be noteworthy if 3 of the 4 solo winners were men. Musicians are musicians, hopefully chosen on merit.