The Berlin Philharmonic's Misogyny Problem

Well, well, well. Another day, another case of the Berlin Philharmonic perpetuating sexist ideology.



On Friday, reports emerged from the @NPRClassical Twitter feed that a Berlin Philharmonic representative at the League of American Orchestras conference said that the reason men make up 78% of users for their Digital Concert Hall is because the setup is too complicated for women to manage.

It couldn't possibly be because women are constantly thrown under the bus at the Berlin Philharmonic, and that they don't attract many women in the first place, due to their striking history as virulent misogynists?

Let's take a look, shall we?

1941: Giovanna di Bella is the first woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic.

1978: In a television interview, orchestra member Willi Maas suggested that women cannot handle the pressures of performing, saying, "Close to 5000 people sit there. It sounds exaggerated if I say: 'Then the conductor enters.' It is not that we have anxiety. But every effort is required. These are things that require a masculine composure. I cannot have any concerns about who sits next to me..."

1978: Sylvia Caduff is the second woman to conduct the ensemble.

1982: The Berlin Philharmonic became the last orchestra in Germany to admit women. They hired Sabine Meyer, a clarinettist who was harassed to such an extreme degree that she left the orchestra 9 months later.

2001: Sarah Willis becomes the first woman to play in the brass section.

 2003: When questioned about when the orchestra would hire its first woman cellist, the principal cellist, Georg Faust, said, "The Auditions are not for a committee but it's in front of the whole orchestra, and the orchestra decides who is going to be the new member of the group, which makes it very democratic and very obvious that there is no way for the cellists to manipulate anything. It was the way it was - that the men are still a little better than the women cellists."

2005: Simone Young is the third woman to conduct the orchestra.

2007: Stefan Stahnke verifies that the audition process is not blind. The procedure of auditioning behind a screen has been adopted by most international orchestras, but not the Berlin Philharmonic. The auditioner plays in front of the entire orchestra, and then each member has one vote.

Not exactly a stellar track record.

Today, only 14% of the orchestra is comprised of women (and only 3% People of Color). Out of 125 members, 25 are women. 10 are violinists, 2 violists, 2 cellists, 1 flutist, 1 bassoonist, and 1 horn player.

The Berlin Philharmonic made an official apology regarding the comments made at the convention, saying, "This was indeed a misleading statement - of course women can connect the devices just as well as men."

Forgive me if I don't think that apology makes up for your sexist and exclusionary practices, Berlin Philharmonic. After all, actions speak louder than words.