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conductors in the U.S. are men.
Like attracts like, meaning audience demographics tend to reflect
those on stage.
Those who’ve hit ceilings inside the field blame inbuilt
causes, from an old boys’ network
to the belief held by some (most
prominently, Vienna Philharmonic flutist Dieter Flury), that the
“soul” of classical music is essentially white and male.
And yet, that night at Weill
Recital Hall looked more Glee
than Leave It to Beaver. Every
view produced a visual rebuke
to statistics, from the crowd, of
all races and ages, to the conductor herself, Sera Tokay, a
Turk of French descent.
Blonde and shapely, in a smartfitted black tunic, Tokay guided
her orchestra — all fresh conservatory graduates — into the
music of the Second Viennese
School. This was a careful choice.
The atonal, late romantic sensibility that came out of World
War II was meant to oppose what
F