"Die Philharmonikerin" ("The women philharmonic")
The Situation of Women Musicians in Austria
Tuesday, December 10 1996, 7:00 pm
WUK-Foyer, 1090 Vienna, Waehringer Strasse 59
Panelists:
Gabriele Mossyrsch (harpist, works council [Betriebsratsvorsitzende] of
the Vienna Volksopernorchestra)
Elena Ostleitner (music sociologist, equal treatment respresentative of
the Vienna Musikhochschule)
Carole Dawn Reinhart (professor of trumpet and head of the department
of wind-instruments at the Vienna Musikhochschule)
Andrea Seebohm (administrative director [Leiterin] of the Radio
Symphony Orchestra of Vienna]
Joyce Shintani (conductor, Universal Edition; moderation)
At the beginning Elena Ostleitner presented some figures: about 50% at
the Austrian Musikhochschulen are women, although when looking closer
there are big differences - more women then men study music pedagogics
and piano, about 50% study string instruments, about 30%
wind-instruments (about 60% flute). About 30% who graduate are women,
but the Austrian orchestras are far away from reaching a 30% quota.
The higher the status and prestige (and, as shown in an American study,
the budget) of an orchestra, the lower the percentage of women. And the
higher the position (e.g. concert master), the more unlikely you find a
woman there.
The most frequent arguments against women in an orchestra are still the
maternity leave (= German "Karenz"; in Austria you can take 18 months
- under certain conditions also men can take that leave!) and stress
when an orchestra goes on tour...
Yet the number of women in Austrian orchestras is slowly, but
constantly increasing: In the beginning of the 80ies 11% were women,
today it is about 16%. Elena Ostleitner warns to be too optimistic: The
increasing numbers do not show that the orchestras are becoming more
friendly towards women, but only that there are not enough highly
qualified male young talents.
Regarding the VPO Elena Ostleitner stated that when the VPO was founded
in 1842 there was no word in its founding articles that women must not
be taken. The actual terms of admissions are the following: You have to
become first a member of the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, after
three years you can apply for becoming a member of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra. (The single male harpist is member of the VPO,
but not the two female harpists.)
Carole Dawn Reinhart told of her education: When she was 2 1/2 years
old she started to play the descant trombone (- in her family women
liked to play brass instruments). When she was 10 years old she went to
study at Julliard. Later, with the help of a Fulbright scholarship, she
came to Vienna. Her teacher at the Vienna Musikhochschule once said to
her: "It is a pity that you are a girl, otherwise you could become a
philharmonic."
For her it was difficult to receive invitations for auditions - she
felt that therefore she only could follow a solo career. To her mind
she would have had more possibilites with playing light music than in
the area of classic music.
Her colleagues at the Musikhochschule who teach trumpet (and are
members of the VPO) do not have so many female students like she has,
and she feels that for the women in her class it is easier than in the
class of her male colleagues. Joyce Shintani added that it is very
important which teacher a student choses, as a teacher can help and
patronize a student (e.g. invitations for auditions, invitations for
substituting in orchestras etc.). Carole Dawn Reinhart agreed - as she
does not play in an orchestra she regrets not to be able to help their
students like a member of an orchestra can. She said that a student of
her won the 3rd prize in a contest, and one juror stated, that, if he
had not been a student of Carole Dawn Reinhart, he would have recieved
the first prize.
Gabriele Mossyrsch only had male teachers when she studied the harp in
Austria. Only when she started to study with a woman in Paris she felt
suddenly that there was a difference, and that the woman really helped
her to develope her playing. Now she plays in the orchestra of the
Vienna Volksoper, which belongs to the orchestras of the federal
theatres to which also the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera belongs.
Since 1967 the orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper is opened also for
women, and now about one third are women (- in the last years mainly
women win the auditions behind the curtain!), and she was voted as a
member of the works council of that orchestra (she is one of two women
there who both were voted with high approval; the works council
consists of 4 persons).
The contract of the members of the orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper
says that they also have to play in the State Opera - but in practice
of course only the men play there. Within the orchestra of the Vienna
Volksoper women and men get paid the same - but as a whole the earn
much less than members of the Vienna State Opera.
Andrea Seebohm said that the wives of younger members of the VPO feel
angry about the misogynous declaration of the executive committee of
the VPO. For her the VPO only fears that the women will take off for
years because of the maternitiy leave - a standpoint which was stronyly
criticized in the following discussion. Elena Ostleitner refered to
studies which proved that the higher the education of a woman and the
more the prestige of her job is, the fewer children and the less time
she takes off for maternity leave. She quoted from a German article
from 1969 (!) where it was stated already that maternity leave was the
most often used argument, but that it seemed to be no problem to find
substitutes when a player of a wind-instrument got a heart-attack.
In the end there was a discussion about the typical sound of the VPO.
Carole Dawn Reinhart said that although her two colleagues of the
Musikhochschule are both members of the VPO, they quite often have
different music ideas - some part of the famous "Viennese style" is
only a myth. Elena Ostleitner complained that members of the VPO who
teach at the Musikhochschule often are on tour or follow several
activities, so that they do not follow their educational duties (- in
Berlin it is different: Members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
have to quit their position when they become a professor at the music
academy). And if they complain that women are not enough qualified they
should ask themselves - as they are teaching women too.
Elena Ostleitner reminded of the case of the viola player Ilse Wincor.
She applied for a professorship at the Vienna Musikhochschule, and two
times she won the nomination, but the responsible minister who makes
the final decision gave the professorship each time to members of the
VPO (- an unusual proceeding not to take the person who was proposed by
the Hochschule).
The conclusion of this panel was clear: The Austrian constitution
forbids discrimination - thus a public financed orchestra must not keep
its sexist policy. Elena Ostleitner reports that there might be soon a
government plan for supporting women ("Frauenfoerdungsplan") which is
intended to include the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. Maybe a
first step in the right direction.
Regina Himmelbauer