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F E B R U A R Y ,   2 0 0 1

THE MEN OF THE JURY—the orchestra's conductor and other prominent players—wait behind a solid screen for the next candidate to audition. The musician enters the stage. Unbeknownst to her, whatever beautiful music she plays with her instrument is overshadowed by another tune—the "click, clack, click" made as she moved into position.

Before she's played a note, the jury has decided against her. She was betrayed by her footwear.

According to Lauren Rico, host of MPR's Classical 24, this is the kind of situation women who aspired to classical music careers often encountered last century.

"If you were very close (to the screen), perfume might also give you away," she adds.

These days, she says, there's usually a carpet on the stage to eliminate any signals a candidate's shoes might send. Music educators have also started to train their female students to wear flat shoes and disguise their higher pitched voices with special breathing techniques.

Even so, Rico wonders if the efforts are paying off. "It should be about whether or not you're the best player for the job. But you just never know," she says.

While it's true that female musicians in the United States have gone from playing piano in their families' drawing rooms during the early 20th century to conducting or composing for some of the country's most renowned orchestras today, it hasn't been an easy road to travel.

Female classical musicians who faced incidents of prejudice in their careers recount the hurdles they've had to overcome during Instrumental Women—Rico's two-hour radio special that uses conversation and recordings to celebrate women's contributions to classical music throughout the 20th century.

WHERE THE GIRLS AREN'T
Rico's idea to explore women in classical music was born in graduate school. As a student of the French horn, she knew that several of her female colleagues were outstanding musicians. Yet they didn't seem to be landing jobs in the top orchestras.

"I looked around and saw all these young women in all these different sections, and I thought, 'Where are they going when they finish school? Will they ever get to play professionally?'" she recalls. "That got me interested in looking at the numbers."

The numbers, as Rico suspected, revealed more males than females in the best-known national ensembles. Although the American Symphony Orchestra League reports that 48 percent of the chairs in American orchestras are filled by women, that figure is deceptive, she says, because it includes data from local and regional organizations where playing is more of a hobby than a livelihood.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Lois Schaefer was one of the first women to be recognized as "the best player for the job." In the 1950s Schaefer overcame several barriers to land prominent positions in major American orchestras, first as a flutist with the New York City Opera and later as a piccolo player with the Boston Symphony.

Rico explains how Schaefer encountered resistance from within her own family because, "Her parents thought that the orchestra was an unseemly place for a woman to be employed. They thought she'd run into all kinds of unsavory characters."

There was also friction between Schaefer and male members of the orchestras. One player in her section would send adult cartoons down the row to test her reactions. At that time, this blatant sexual harassment was dismissed as prankish "boys-will-be-boys" behavior, according to Rico.

While union regulations now try to prevent such inappropriate conduct, many women orchestra members still face conflicts within their organizations, Rico says. She points to an "old guard" of veteran male performers in some major ensembles as one source of discord. "Young women players come into sections where you have men of a different generation and they don't know how to relate to younger women," she says. "You have to know how to diplomatically deal with your section. If you don't have the respect of people in your section, then you're going to run into problems."

According to Rico, logistics have also caused tension between genders. Venues were not always outfitted to accommodate orchestras of both men and women. Dozens of men resented being stuffed into a cramped changing room while a handful of women used a similarly sized space. Even today, many female performers in smaller orchestras keep their purses under their seats while they play because there's no safe place to leave them backstage.

GIRL GROUPS
All-female ensembles are transcending these gender conflicts. Early in the last century such groups emerged out of necessity. Women weren't allowed to play in orchestras with men. But that's not the case with contemporary organizations like the San Francisco-based Women's Philharmonic, founded in 1981. It exists—not for lack of alternatives—but to provide an outlet for the works of under-appreciated female composers.

The International Women's Brass Conference (IWBC) gathers every three to five years to promote the careers of women who play a family of instruments that's long been dominated by men. Since it formed in 1990, the IWBC has maintained its mission to "provide opportunities that will educate, support, develop and inspire all women brass players." The conference's practical approach includes "peanut butter and jelly sessions," where participants discuss day-to-day matters such as being both parents and brass players, or leaving children behind while on tour.

What did these progressive organizations and individuals accomplish during the 20th century? Certainly, they opened doors. But they also played and recorded a lot of wonderful music. Instrumental Women highlights the musical accomplishments of these influential females alongside their pioneering efforts. In the words of host Lauren Rico, "All the women (in the program) came off being very strong. They all have such a fabulous spirit to them."