New trend: Chorus hires maestro from equity agency
NewsThe Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee is one of the oldest and most respected in the US.
It is currently searching for a music director.
Where does it turn for help?
The search is being conducted by a firm called Equity Sings. The outcome is a foregone conclusion.
Here’s the Equity Sings founder:
A local theater emailed me soliciting names of performers from “underrepresented communities” that would be “reflective of the diverse communities” in the area. I was assured this would help the organization make sure it is “putting in the work” to be a more inclusive “safe space for everyone.”
Pretty sure I won’t be playing with them anymore.
So it’s another non-story with racist undertones. Sorry, racist overtones. I thought you were better than this. I was wrong.
I so appreciate your comment, as Norman’s article is racist.
Graham, there is nothing racist in this post. It may be time for you to get a life (but you’ve been told that before).
It used to be said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Nowadays it can be said with much greater justification that FALSE accusations of racism are precisely that. Usually coming from blatant racists who try to shut off any rational discussion. For shame. The situation with this choir would have been a parody as recently as 30 years ago . . . Now a reality! Again, SHAME.
Mr. Lebrecht,. Your article outrageous. What do you mean the search results for a forgone conclusions?? If your day something like that…. Don’t be pussy and dance around or tiptoe. Say it directly!! I would expect more from a journalist!!
There is absolutely NOTHING racist with this post…NOTHING. You wokesters are a joke!
Might as well post the opening on Tic Toc.
Everything woke turns to shit.
“Search” link does not work. The outgoing conductor, Richard Hynson, is an old friend so I’d like to keep up on this.
It is one of the oldest. It’s not a world-class chorus, however. If they prefer to choose a POC as their music director, that is their prerogative. And they will probably gain new audiences since Milwaukee is 40% African-American.
Does the best candidate usually get picked? It’s all politics. Was YNS the best conductor for the MET? Was Enrique Mazzola the best available candidate for the Chicago Lyric Opera?
I’d rather have this chorus pick the best POC candidate than pick someone who ingratiated themselves with a rich donor or board member.
“If they prefer to choose a POC as their music director, that is their prerogative.”
What a ridiculous, needless statement. Of course it is their prerogative. Mr. Lebrecht, or anyone else commenting here, did not state otherwise.
“And they will probably gain new audiences since Milwaukee is 40% African-American.”
What naive idiocy. The notion that people who don’t give a damn about classical music are going to attend a concert because of the race of the conductor is absurd.
You wokesters are always good for a laugh.
Racism! Sure…When an incompetent leftist with idiotic ideas happens to be black, one cannot say a word. God forbid. Check the guy, a total joke. Check his website. Utterly ridiculous. America has gone nuts.
Far from a non-story, Norman did well in attracting attention to the extraordinary, truly racist present tendency in the United States to put skin color first and merit/skill/competence last.
Commentators who complain about people simply noticing that… would better be concerned that the level of musical life getting lower and lower and lower. Amateur “progressive” hour.
That a silly, incoherent, race-obsessed little man like the one in the video is in charge of hiring somebody for a serious position should be a scandal, THE scandal. Unfortunately we live in an orwellian reality where genuine, new school racists are put in charge of destroying classical music, in the name of pathological wokeism and antifa-style, true Fascism.
Excellent post, Carmen!
So you are saying that not a single candidate they consider will have any skill or merit? Because that’s what I’m hearing.
We complain that classical music is dying and someone should do something, then we complain when someone does something. I’m hoping for the best here. Milwaukee is a “majority-minority” city, and even taking into account the suburbs, there’s a large percentage of non-whites.
Are you really alleging that so-called “non-whites” are so racist that they care more about the ethnicity of the maestro than about his/her capability?
SVM, I’m not alleging that at all. I’m imagining that if I were a Black or Hispanic singer or listener, it might make a difference to me if the person on the podium were a minority. Maybe it doesn’t go without saying, so I’ll say it, that the candidate should be qualified for the job.
The color of the person on the podium doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to the music, which is (should be; used to be) our overriding concern.
How paternalistic is it to believe that some artists perform less well unless there is someone who shares a certain concentration of melanin with them is on the podium? How immature it is to believe oneself incapable of the best unless that qualification is satisfied? If that were truly the case, a pointed riposte of “Grow up!” Is in order.
Is it possible to take a step back, look at this objectively, and see that this is as racist racist gets?
Yes, putting POC on the podiums of classical ensembles will have POC flooding the concert halls to hear music they couldn’t care less about!!!!!
Breathtaking naivety!
Good help us. It’s all over.
In addition to many always thinking that the new hire is not qualified there is the chance that the hiring process could be violating laws with regard to discriminatory hiring labor laws, even worse if the organization accepts government funds. The recent SCOTUS decision regarding affirmative action admissions to universities is being applied to other fields now.
Getting tired of both (oversimplified) sides of this debate–on the one hand we have the people clutching their pearls over the arts getting “too woke” (as Lebrecht seems to be, both here and in other recent articles), and on the other hand we have people insisting that every new ensemble opening be filled by a BIPOC individual, but preferring to check the tokenism box rather than do the work to find a good candidate. It’s not an either-or situation–we absolutely need more representation of BIPOC folks in classical music, but we don’t need to be hiring people based solely on their skin color. There are _plenty_ of extremely qualified BIPOC musicians out there, and the boards and administrative staff need to put in the work to increase both diversity and quality, rather than just taking the easiest path towards trying to appear like they care about diversity. I applaud Bel Canto for wanting to be more inclusive, but outsourcing this hire is definitely a bad look and smacks of tokenism. Do the work-offer a fair salary and benefits (imagine that!) to attract a diverse pool of applicants, including people not from Milwaukee, find a good fit, and then, ideally, hire a qualified BIPOC music director who will also move the institution forward musically. It is possible to have it both ways!
Yes, it is possible, absolutely. But not when the priorities of a serious organization are represented by a race obsessed person like the one on the video. Bel Canto Chorus will need years to recover from the damage that this incompetent man will do. BLM slogans still work well for grants, but best of luck with the donors. The unfortunate thing is that no matter who the next music director will be, it won’t be an easy job to start after this disaster.
There are certainly people with low intelligence on the board of this organization. They never thought their stupid decisions will be disclosed by a whistleblower. This is most likely what happened. The aftermath of this going public? Bud Light has given a great example. The choir will lose both members and, most certainly, donors. And if you think that “diversity” and “equity” will replace those, good luck.
Peter, there was no secret, no whistleblower. The job posting on their website states, “Questions and application submissions may be sent to our supporting search firm, Equity Sings, at search@equitysings.com.”
The left never gives up its attempts to manipulate the world in line with its ideologies – until the money runs out. It always runs out in the end though because the fight just makes more division. It will here too.
He’s very cool.