Music directors review the US election

Franz Welser-Möst (Cleveland): ‘My wife and I went to bed around ten-thirty, but neither of us could sleep and got up again. I’ve watched and followed CNN and Fox News on TV and the Internet. I ended up sleeping for about two and a half hours. It’s been my turn since five in the morning – and watch this thriller end…. I am depressed for many reasons. Mostly because President Trump stood up and said he will call the court to have the count stopped. Like it or not, suppressing votes is a highly undemocratic act….

‘There are people in our orchestra who voted for Trump in 2016 – and now they are again. But politics is no longer discussed in the orchestra either. Democracy lives from the exchange of different opinions. Only this exchange simply no longer takes place. Many families and friendships perished. And even at work, where political issues were sometimes discussed in the past, people no longer talk about them. I think that’s dangerous for a democracy.’ More here.

Garrett Keast (Berlin): ‘As a conductor who wants to work in the US too, you are very dependent on philanthropy there and have to spend much more time cultivating corporate sponsors than is the case in Europe. It’s OK doing these things, still, you have to be careful what you say and not to offend anybody. One definitely doesn’t want to talk a lot about politics and the arts.

‘But I do think that a Biden presidency would be stronger for the arts. His careful, smart approach would help the economy.

‘And with the coronavirus, this is one of my biggest disappointments: I don’t see in the Trump presidency a big plan to come to terms with the pandemic. That would hurt the country and slow down the recovery and the comeback of the arts. We need to have our society working on improving the arts. It’s a scary time.’ More here.

Any further contributions?