Order of Canada for combative violinist
OrchestrasThe violinist Lara St John, a leading campaigner against sexual abuse in music colleges, has been awarded the Order of Canada by Governor General Mary Simon.
The honour cites Lara’s ‘exceptional contributions’ to her native country.
In 2019, she told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was raped at 14 years old by her professor at the Curtis Institute.
“Combative”? In the sense of “pugnacious”? No, she spoke the truth, was criticized for it, and then received an apology from Curtis.
“Combative” is a terrible word to use to label a victim of sexual assault (who was underage at the time). Shame on you Norman!
If telling the truth about sexual assault makes you “combative” then I would gladly assume that title!
Poor choice of words in the heading. Combative means ready or inclined to fight or argue– aggressive, pugnacious, bellicose. Better and more accurate choices would be brave, defender of women’s rights, advocate for justice, gifted, tenacious. This only serves to stigmatize women who confront inappropriate or deplorable behavior in the face of overwhelming opposition or denial. We must do better.
I only know of her because of her Bach [album’s cover].
Amazing achievement. Perlman couldn’t compete on that front
I remember that. I suppose she could do as Phil Collins did and reissue it with a current photo, though she’d need a viola for scale.
Of course, I like your website, but several of your pieces need to have their spelling checked. Several of them contain multiple spelling mistakes, which makes it challenging for me to be honest. Still, I will most certainly return.
Pedant. I don’t see any spelling mistakes in this piece, unless you’re referring to the “u” in honour, which is the correct spelling in the UK, where this blog is written.
True, but in fairness the blog in general is not carefully copy-edited. Most mistakes fall into the category of careless typos rather than spelling mistakes, though that is no great excuse for not re-reading them once written and before posting.
The problem is that Lara uses the fact she was a victim as a tool to start trying to label sexism in places where sexism doesn’t exist. She jumps to conclusions that aren’t necessarily founded. Like claiming an entire orchestral organization is anti-woman because it only has one female conductor planned for the new season. No, Lara. That is not a sign of sexism; it’s a sign that the conductors widely considered the very best working today are mostly male. That’s just the way it is. If an orchestra is elite enough that it can attract Mäkelä, EPS, Nelsons, Seguin, Rattle, etc., don’t claim that they’re sexist for not bringing in several female conductors instead, most of whom are not on the same level as those top conductors mentioned. It’s not about being sexist; it’s about certain organizations striving to get the best no matter which gender or skin color. Taking someone just because they’re female is wrong, just as giving someone tenure just because he or she is black is wrong. One should certainly not discriminate against anyone, but if the man is better than the woman, you take the man, just as if the white candidate is better than the black candidate, you don’t take the black candidate just in an effort to be diverse. No. May the best person win. But Lara tends to take to social media to throw people and organizations under the bus when it’s not even clear the person or organization she is attacking is even guilty of any wrongdoing. Sometimes it is justified, other times not. There’s no doubt she is a victim of horrible things in the past, but her tendencies on social media certainly have earned her the adjective “combative”.