Video via Wikimedia Commons: Scene from the elevator ascending Eiffel Tower
“Breaking the Glass Ceiling” is a description that has been used to define the effort required to breach religious, racial or gender biases faced within many fields. In this blog post, I am choosing to use the term “preferment” to describe the hurdle that we have all had to face at one time or another.
Case in point: Historically, males (XY chromosomes) have been “preferred” as Conductors, Organists, Musicians, etc. rather than females (XX chromosomes). To my knowledge, there is no specific evidence that points to a particular gender, race, or religion as being superior to another in Music.
Personally, my musical training in Piano and Violin allowed the development of an Orchestral “ear”. Habitually listening to Arturo Toscanini on the radio as a child gave me a
Classical orchestral foundation. When the time finally arrived to actually choose a career, though? You guessed it - for me, it was only Choral music. This meant rigorous Vocal training... (sigh) As my Voice teacher tried to “channel” herself and fashion me into a “true” Vocal person, I struggled with “Caro mio ben” because I was not, nor had I ever been, a singer. Sadly, there was no choice available for me at that time in history, so that was that! My options were reduced to “starve or not to starve...” Either become a Private Piano teacher with a bona fide Elementary Teaching Credential, or pursue a Choral Music position. Eventually, I acquiesced to the “preferred” path of Choral Music; bringing my musically trained Classical Piano/Orchestral “ear” with me as I entered into the work force after graduation
from College.
“Preferment”, in my humble opinion, has stifled many a gifted individual. Because of stereotypical paths that many have been forced to take, Musicians have been made to feel helpless or “weak” as they silently struggle to maintain their dignity within a field that was not of their own choosing.
No remedy is available today that might prohibit or lessen intrinsic traditional or cultural “preferment”. What there is, however, is the self-propelled Musician who moves forward by accepting that actual “preferment” is a state that exists within one’s own self. With this understanding, a musician can continue to proactively perform to the best of his or
her abilities.
