Women are done down in opera down under
OperaA survey of conductors, directors and designers at Australia’s opera companies shows the country lagging far behind the rest of the world.
Over 16 seasons, 95% of all conductors were male. The flagship company Opera Australia engaged just 3% women conductors.
The State Opera of South Australia did not credit a single woman conductor between 2005 and 2020.
Read on here.
Who reads “The Conversation”? It’s an insiders club for over-paid Lefty misanthropes. Essentially.
Sheila conducting / directing / designing opera for the conservative elite in Oz? Surely nobody is surprised at these findings.
No one says ‘man conductor’ or ‘men conductors’. Can we stop emphasising they’re women first and conductors second with ‘woman conductor’? Say ‘female conductor’, it keeps the focus on the fact they’re conductors with the adjective just modifying it.
How about simply “conductor?”
OK? And how many were red-haired? How many left-handed?
There aren’t bouncers at the doors of our conservatoriums refusing entry to women.
There are likely many more male conductors than female. There are some very good female conductors, but perhaps not in Australia. There are no sex equality rules relative to engaging conductors.
Simone Young now chief conductor Sydney Symphony after being in Europe for many years having been ditched by Sydney years ago. Australia suffers from entrenched sexism in many arenas including classical music.
I am South Australian and find SAOpera dull. Hadn’t bothered to work out why so this article is Food For Thought! I love Pinchgut Opera ( Sydney ) and the filmed productions from the Met. Just saw Die Zauberflöte Nathalie Stutzmann conducted . Brilliant Foley artist was a woman and the direktor a man. There is much to be said for being open minded about what men and women can do and not creating sily and wasteful assumptions