“Sexism is real in this country.” Kamela Harris It’s part of a being woman conductor or composer to be looked on as something unusual. We’re called “strange” or “weird” and certainly not taken seriously. Folks focus on things about us, often not relating to the music, such as what we wear or how we present […]
Women Conductors
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Six Choral/Music Things That Really Irritated Me in 2022!!!!
“I lead a very conventional life. I don’t lead a writer’s life. And I think that can be a source of suspicion and irritation to some people.” Joan Didion Hi ChoralNetters, and Happy New Year. I hope you have begun an exciting and productive time and that 2023 is your best year ever. It is […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Singing Her Praises
Margaret Hillis in 1978, Terry’s Photography “There’s only one woman I know who could never be a symphony conductor, and that’s Venus de Milo.” Margaret Hillis I first learned about the new biography of Margaret Hillis (Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer, Cheryl Frazes Hill, GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago, 2022) last spring. I quickly pre-ordered it from […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Uncomfortable Update
“An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable.” George Bernard Shaw WARNING: Could be a trigger for some. I met Sarah* a few years ago at a choral conference. She was a regular Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics reader and knew I would be at this conference. She wanted to meet me in person […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Women Conductors
I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break during the summer, and this is a Choral Ethics Blog repeat, taken from Choral Ethics blogs from 2018 through 2019. We will also have a guest blogger a time or two. I will be working on the fall’s Blogs during the summer, so if you […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Old Lady Musicians
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw I’ve known Janice* for over twenty years. We met at a church music conference on the east coast and have been friends ever since. We are of a similar age; our children are of a similar age […]