Dear Alma, Our conductor is a bully
OrchestrasFrom our agony aunt’s postbag:
Dear Alma,
Our conductor always picks on the same three players in rehearsal. No-one speaks up for them because they are getting older and don’t look that keen. Also, they tend to form their own clique. But the conductor’s victimisation is poisoning the atmosphere and our orchestra is becoming rather like Lord of the Flies. Any suggestions?
Marooned on the Island
Dear Marooned,
Lord of the Flies indeed! Sounds like the makings of a weekday soap opera, but just kindof saggy and sad. Let’s pick it apart a tad and see what the options are. Certainly no one is happy – the bully, the victims or the silent clans.
First, the fact of the matter is that an orchestra, as an organism, is very much like you describe: a series of interconnected clans, each vie-ing for power or self-protection, trapped together on a small island. Each section has its own leaders and followers, which are pre-ordained by a committee when you join the orchestra. You can’t lead from the back. It just doesn’t work. Prone to squabbling, gossip and back-stabbing, things can get out of control quickly, and you can easily find yourself talking to the severed head of a pig in the jungle before long. It’s also one of the most beautiful organisms ever invented, and the pinnacle of artistic vision. Let’s get you back to a place where you all can enjoy making this amazing music together.
One inherent problem with classical music is that it is sort of based on bullying. Or a bullying spectrum. You are told what to do for years, judged by strangers, and eventually you are the person telling others what to do and judging them. The key is to remain warm and generous, which is very difficult in these situations, and may lead to your death by boulder, just like our kind Piggy in Lord of the Flies.
The hunting clan, lead by the conductor in your case, is filled with hungry, career-climbing musicians wanting the freshest cut of the meat. Like hunters or scavengers, they look for their prey and feast on it, happy to try to inhabit the space left behind by their victims.
Sometimes you actually have a magnanimous conductor, who understands that an orchestra is made up of both your younger, muscular talent, and older, knowledgeable but less physically strong members, who are the carriers of the torch of knowledge. These wise elders know how to forage, to treat wounds, where the best restaurants are on tour, and have the knowledge to survive long-term. In the case of a kind conductor, they lead this clan, the clan focused on building shelter, protecting and feeding the island.
It seems as if your poor victims are so downtrodden by now that they have given up, unable to fight for themselves, or simply aware that they are protected by their work contract and will wait it out. And also, that no one is interested in facing your bully, too afraid to step forward or just possibly watching the entertainment, like a bullfight or a lovely day at the ole’ colosseum, snacking on figs and watching the gladiators being eaten by lions.
But seriously, how do you want to look back at this moment, realizing that some day, you yourself will be in the position of those victims. A public stance probably won’t do much good, but you could do a little research and see if your orchestra handbook says anything about bullying. This is tricky, because if you put your foot in the middle of this, you could really get in a terrible situation yourself. Perhaps an (anonymous?) note to your orchestra committee, and they can investigate and speak to the parties involved. That’s what they are there for, and they can fix this.
In the end, when you are rescued from this island, which clan do you want to be standing with? Maybe you just want to put your head down and survive, or maybe you want to leave this orchestra with your head held high. In any case, the road ahead is strewn with traps. Walk carefully. Find a path back to beauty, you can do it!!
pictured: Patrick Dineen and Sade Malone in Lord of the Flies at Leeds Playhouse. Photo: Anthony Robling
Unfortunately, this happens more than you might think….
You absolutely don’t need to search for any orchestra handbook! You already know the answer. Bullying in any shape or form in the workplace is ILLEGAL in this age of 2023..It is simply not acceptable and God knows we fought long and hard to rid workplaces of it! If you do wish to see something in print, see the minimum code of conduct put on paper by your branch of Musicians’ Union.. Then ask your own orch’a for its policy on bullying. Don’t tolerate or permit a colleague for one second being treated with disrespect, either by verbal, emotional or any other sort of bullying. Speak up loudly and and fear not. (All it takes for evil to flourish is that good men stand by and say nothing)
This clearly wasn’t the mindset in the orchestra I used to play in. I was nearly fired for having depression, and would get 10 pm calls from the MD telling me to stop raising complaints about our working conditions.
Yes, many mental health issues are overlooked or hidden. So sorry to hear this.
Perfect advice. Can you please open a HR centre, to bring orchestral disputes to for resolution? You will be snowed under with the avalanche of complaints.
Yes good idea. These people need help!
Every year there is Anti – bullying week in mid – Nov. Find out what this year’s theme is for 2023 and make sure you draw awareness of your workmates to it.. Make your management and conductor aware that it is important to you!
.
Not so easy for musicians. I have worked for
Terrible people. But i always looked for a better job.
And been successful in finding one.
The best answer I ever received came from three different advisors in the profession of the behavioral sciences, especially as related to group dynamics: the above described situation is the result of poor management. Time and time again, this is the conclusion I met with when I described the hurdles I confronted at work. Frankly, the policies on bullying and harassment were not enforced. The orchestra or players’ committee is as wounded as the group as a whole. Even though they are an extended arm of the union in this role, they are helpless in achieving viable solutions as they are made of the same fabric as the rest of the group. And then instead of working to hold management to their contractual obligations, they end up negotiating a compromise or offering compassion for a beleaguered management team. These management teams filter down to us through the likes of Harvard Business School and the League of American Symphony Orchestras, which are merely branches of the federal government, when you think about it. They receive federal funding and they do as required by the entity giving support. The problem is, it’s not real support. It becomes bribery and, after time, blackmail to implement a plan that will undermine all who pass through the organization, and consequently it will undermine society. I heard it referred to recently as the Military-Industrial-Institutional complex. Yes, it’s been growing since Eisenhower’s time in office. Well, to quote another famous president, “the buck stops here” needs to be our adopted attitude. Each individual is accountable for the whole of the culture. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and if that is the desire to be treated ethically, everyone can be a steward of the orchestra in the road to recovery.
Sounds like Rattle. One of the CBSO players told me that he used that technique on them.
These forms of abuse in orchestras are real. During Celibidache’s 17 year reign at the Munich Philharmonic, three musicians committed suicide. One baked himself to death in a sauna. Another jumped in front of a train. And the third jumped from a high building across the street from the concert hall. In an atmosphere of terror and abuse, the weaker colleagues who are more vulnerable can be seriously harmed.
Celi purposely created factions in the orchestra to increase his power and created an atmosphere of terror and superiority that led to insanity. His abuses were well known, but the owner of the orchestra and Celi’s employer, the City of Munich, did nothing due to its obsessive desire to build a prominent orchestra. Given Munich’s history, this intense desire for power, subjugation, and superiority was especially interesting to observe.
This article, “Symphony Orchestras and Artist-Prophets,” might help one understand the history of this form of orchestral culture.
http://www.osborne-conant.org/prophets.htm
And in German here:
http://www.osborne-conant.org/prophets-ger.htm
Quite true, orchestra musicians are very reluctant to break ranks, even when watching abuse. From their earliest training they are taught to conform, march in step, and never question authority. On the positive side, classical musicians will never be replaced by AI since robots can’t kiss ass. (Apologies in advance for being so cynical.)
Suggestion: Wait a few years. This too shall pass. Conductors come and go. Admins and managers come and go. Musicians typically outlast them all. Be the kind of colleague you’d want to share the stage with for 30+ years.
I think I would have liked to have been conducted by Haitink
Wimps. Natural selection operates in music, as it does everwhere else where quality counts.
Enjoy your local symphony orchestra going under once everyone quits from low morale
This is what orchestra personnel manager is for, not simply taking attendance- which many do. And after the personnel manager it is the union representative. These managerial people must be aware of the situation and are falling down on the job if they fail to address these situations unprompted by the affected players. And people mustn’t forget that the conductor works FOR the organization and not the opposite.
I’ve seen bullying happen, and it seemed to me the right thing to do was to approach the Orchestra Manager with a suggestion that he might speak to the Conductor. But he was too scared of the Conductor to do anything. AND scared of losing him.
The description sounds like a community orchestra rather than a paid-professional-player situation.
The conductor may be paid but the orchestra exists to make a playing opportunity for the rank-and-file rather than a career step for the conductor.
Either way, there must be a board or players’ committee that has the position to bring this problem up with the conductor.
It also sounds like the orchestra, in general, doesn’t wish to eject the aging players.
Bullying conductors are a showbiz stereotype, not a necessity for the work that needs to get done.
The proliferation of guest conductor spots in professional orchestra seasons, spots where fine work gets done and where bullying would mean not getting invited back, shows this to be true.
There is a long record of affable conductors who get the job done as well as anyone.
What age is an ‘ageing’ player? Age affects players in different ways…….a 70 yr old oboist or tuba player won’t have the same pzazz as his or her younger self, meanwhile a 70 yr old cellist or violinist may be able to blend into the trees in the middle of a string section without drawing undue attention to themselves.
This kind of thing literally ruins lives. You could be a respectful person with fantastic musical skills yet attacked by conductors and fellow musicians simply because you exist. They will even rumor and gossip without even knowing a thing about you simply because they want to be “top dog” and you are in “their” space. Tiny, tiny minds. And it shouldn’t be any surprise to any of you in the business. This starts in school music ensembles and youth orchestras, which is actually a good thing because they prepare you for the major BS that goes on at the college and professional levels.
I had many experiences under one conductor who would explode during rehearsals and then often go on a rant about how his wife was disabled and how he had to “bathe” her (Side note: That particular conservatory has so much money that they don’t know what to do with it, so they could have easily paid for nursing care while this particular conductor was working). However, I think he would have complained regardless because that’s simply who he was…I think he was frustrated because he wasn’t conducting the major symphonies as he was a legend in his own mind.
Cray crays are protected by the spineless but then everyone wonders why we have declining audiences in the classical music world. Well of course audiences are going to shrink! We live in a cause and effect world. Although there are some very talented musicians in the mix, there are people who simply do not belong based on political situations or because their wealthy families are using an enormous amount of funds in order to paint false pictures. Paying to have a Heifetz-esque career doesn’t make one Heifetz…somehow they don’t understand this as their greed for the spotlight distorts all forms of logic.
Some of you should ask yourselves this question: Would you continue to play if you knew from this point forward that no one would ever listen to you?
Where is the concertmaster in all this? He/she also has a responsibility to make sure that the orchestral members are being fairly treated and the right conditions for making music together are being created. Not only that they are usually in a stronger position to take on overbearing conductors.
What a strange comment from the musicians! Having read it several times, I find it odd that the writer only mentions their age and absolutely nothing about their playing ability. And three players forming their own clique? We are not told if this is a small or large orchestra, a community orchestra with a few concerts a year or a much larger one with a full or close to full schedule. Nor how these three players and the conductor’s antagonism to them so disrupt the camaraderie in the orchestra that it is “poisoned”.
I have managed an orchestra where the rather hastily appointed MD’s antagonism against a small group of musicians rather quickly extended to many more. The answer then was simple. We fired the MD. After taking time to find a new MD, those problems basically disappeared.
I am reminded of Mariss Jansons’ comments about working with the Concertgebouw. “In rehearsals, the players talk to you on a fascinating level about interpretation. So often rehearsals can be simply about organization. . . The Concergebouw players expect something extra from you, an interesting interpretation, illuminating ideas . . . If you offer them that, they play with a passion as though a new piece rather than a work they have played a million times before . . .”
The conductor referred to reminds me of the time of Szell, Reiner and the older school of conductors – although most of them also had the right to hire and fire. If it is the conductor who is the problem and the vast majority of the orchestra are against him, there are nowadays various ways the musicians can take to have him fired. Why do they put up with him?
It’s not just conductors. I’ve played in orchestras where certain musicians indulge in disruptive behaviour just to rile the stick, often for no apparent reason. When I asked my neighbours why no-one tells these disruptive players to be quiet, they just feebly make excuses for his personality and suck up the completely toxic rehearsal environment. I’m so glad I’m not a permanent orchestral player.
I know of an individual who posted this Q&A on social media in an attempt to make a point when in reality that individual was the bully and not the victim. There is bullying and then there are those who claim to be victims of bullying when they don’t get their way. They are career complainers and the question asked does not apply to that group. Self-awareness matters.