On the beat

Diverse matters

A new report highlights the experience of LGBTQ+ musicians in the UK’s orchestral landscape, revealing that discrimination is still all too common in such environments

By Peter Somerford

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A performance by Her Ensemble, the UK’s first orchestra centring on women and gender-diverse musicians

TOM LOVATT

The latest report from the first ever UK Musicians’ Census reveals significant issues facing LGBTQ+ musicians around discrimination, sexual harassment and mental and physical wellbeing. The LGBTQ+Musicians Insight Report (bit.ly/4bO1xCu) was produced by the Musicians’ Union (MU) and the charities Help Musicians and Come Play with Me. It draws on data from the Musicians’ Census 2023, which surveyed nearly 5,900 musicians, 1,090 of whom are from LGBTQ+ communities. Over a third of these LGBTQ+ respondents (37 per cent) had experienced or witnessed discrimination based on their sexuality while working as a musician, yet only 27 per cent reported it. Over half of trans respondents had experienced discrimination based on their gender identity, and almost half of all LGBTQ+ respondents (44 per cent) had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment.

The report also identifies high levels of poor mental and physical wellbeing among LGBTQ+ musicians, with 43 per cent reporting poor mental wellbeing compared with 30 per cent of musicians in the overall Census sample who reported experiencing the same. John Shortell, the MU’s head of equality, diversity and inclusion, is particularly concerned by this finding, which he says reflects both the insecurities of freelance employment and also LGBTQ+ musicians’ experience of discrimination and feeling that they can’t always be open about their sexuality or gender identity with the people they work with. ‘We already know from wider society that hiding part of your identity has a massive impact on your mental health,’ Shortell says. ‘People feeling they can’t be themselves at work, or suffering high levels of discrimination, only adds to the impact that the employment and financial insecurities of being a freelance musician can have on mental wellbeing.’ While the majority of LGBTQ+ musicians surveyed reported that they are open about their sexuality with at least some of the people they work with, 16 per cent did not feel able to be open with anyone they work with.

Although the report includes anonymised comments from some respondents working in the classical music sector, the data is not genre-specific. However, Tony Ereira, director of Come Play with Me, a non-profit music organisation that supports the career development of marginalised communities and especially LGBTQ+ musicians, feels there is work to be done with inclusion in the classical sector. ‘In some genres, such as electronic music, there is excellent diversity of voices that I don’t see across other genres, including classical music,’ he says. ‘It would be great to identify some of that good practice and share it between genres.’ Shortell adds: ‘Many of the diversity issues in the orchestral sector come from the mindset of hiring for a cultural “fit” rather than a cultural “add”, which means looking for someone to slot into an existing framework instead of considering what new perspective that person could bring to the organisation. This goes beyond the players, to the management and boards.’

‘Hiding part of your identity has a massive impact on your mental health’ – John Shortell, head of equality, diversity and inclusion, Musicians’ Union

In some practical aspects of orchestral work such as dress codes, dressing rooms and the use of inclusive language, there is still progress to be made, says one non-binary musician who is a member of Her Ensemble, the UK’s first orchestra centring on women and gender-diverse musicians. ‘I get misgendered in other work settings all the time, even when I tell people what my pronouns are,’ they say. ‘And when orchestra managers address the “men of the orchestra” or “ladies of the orchestra”, I think, “What about me? Where do I go?” With dress codes there has been a small amount of progress in the sector, for example with those orchestras that use “option 1” and “option 2” for their dress codes, instead of saying men wear this and women wear that. But even though the rules on paper may be option 1 or option 2, if you go outside of the stereotypically assigned clothing it can be difficult and you face a lot of people staring at you, saying things.’ The musician credits Her Ensemble with influencing other orchestras to change their dress codes and attitudes, but says: ‘Organisations can professionally and officially agree with more inclusive policies but then actually they talk badly about these things, or they think it’s silly or ridiculous that they’re doing something different to include other people.’

The report also identifies a significant pay gap between non-LGBTQ+ musicians who earn all their income through music and those who identify as LGBTQ+ musicians, with the latter making £4,000 a year less on average. This pay gap widens to almost £10,000 for trans musicians.

Despite the challenging conditions for some LGBTQ+ musicians, 84 per cent of respondents in the report said it is likely that they will still be working in the music industry in five years’ time. ‘This is encouraging,’ says Shortell, ‘and it’s even more reason for the industry to come together and think how we can remove barriers so that people can feel they can be themselves at work, and take the necessary steps to rid discrimination and harassment from workplaces.’

NEWS IN BRIEF

JULIEN MIGNOT

Ébène Quartet appoints new cellist bit.ly/3IxuRQp

The Ébène Quartet has announced the appointment of Yuya Okamoto, 29 (far left), as its new cellist, following the departure of Raphaël Merlin who has played with the ensemble for almost 25 years. The quartet posted on social media that Okamoto ‘is not only an extraordinary musician, but also brings a lot of happiness to our group’.

Okamoto performs on a 1682 cello made by Giovanni Grancino.

London Sinfonietta receives £100,000 grant bit.ly/49EwlUm

The Cockayne Grants for the Arts Programme has awarded £100,000 to the London Sinfonietta. The grant will fund a series of eight significant commissions, to be built into its future programmes and enter the repertoire of other ensembles around the world. The choice of composers aims to be representative and inclusive, celebrating the diversity of London.

Renaud Capuçon awarded Officer’s Medal by Macron bit.ly/3Iezz5q

French violinist Renaud Capuçon has been awarded the Officer’s Medal in the National Order of Merit, signifying a promotion to the second rank in the Order. The ceremony took place at the Élysée Palace in Paris, France, with the medal bestowed by French president Emmanuel Macron. Capuçon previously received the Knight of the French National Order of Merit in 2011, became a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 2016, and was presented with the Officer’s Medal in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture in 2021.

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OBITUARIES

SALLY THOMAS

US violinist and teacher Sally Thomas has died at the age of 92. She was best known as the teaching assistant of Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School, where she was a faculty member from 1961.

Born in Minot, North Dakota, Thomas completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Juilliard School. Among her teachers were Galamian, Josef Gingold, Edouard Dethier, Louis Persinger and Hans Letz.

Thomas taught at the Meadowmount School of Music from 1960, a year later joining the Juilliard faculty in the precollege and college divisions. Among her students were violinists James Ehnes, Odin Rathnam, Anat Malkin Almani, Ingrid Matthiessen, Stephanie Chase, Robert Canetti, Robert Schumitzky and Todd Phillips. She wrote the introduction to the 2013 edition of Galamian’s Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching.

In 2013 Meadowmount established the Sally G. Thomas Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to the school, to be awarded annually to an outstanding violin student poised for a significant career. Thomas also served on the board of directors for the Society for Strings Inc.

ANTONIO LYSY

The cellist and pedagogue Antonio Lysy has died aged 60. In his work, Lysy aimed to showcase the versatility of the cello’s voice, from Baroque to electric, performing in projects that illustrated his diverse interests in music.

Born in 1963, Lysy was the son of violinist Alberto Lysy and Benedetta Origo. Antonio studied cello at the Menuhin School before embarking on an international performing career. He recorded extensively for CBC Radio, BBC Radio, Classic FM and other European radio networks.

As an educator, Lysy was a professor at McGill University in Montreal for 15 years, as well as a visiting professor at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland for many years. He became professor of cello at the Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California Los Angeles, in 2003.

He founded the Incontri in Terra di Siena Chamber Music Festival in Tuscany, which has been held annually since its inception in 1989. Lysy was also the co-founder of the NUME Academy and Festival in Cortona, and taught at the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia and the Toronto Summer Music Festival in Canada.

HANNELE ANGERVO-SEGERSTAM

The Finnish violinist and educator Hannele Angervo-Segerstam has died at the age of 80. Born on 19 August 1943 in Mikkeli, she studied at the Sibelius Academy throughout her teens and went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire for two years. Following this, she moved to the US to study at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and Louis Persinger from 1963 to 1965.

Angervo-Segerstam won first prize in the Kuopio National Violin Competition and won the Harriet Cohen medal in 1967, which launched her solo career, during which she premiered the works of numerous Finnish composers.

Throughout her career Angervo-Segerstam served as concertmaster of the Finnish National Opera and the Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as a professor at the Sibelius Academy. She worked with artists such as Salonen, Berglund, Saariaho and Lindberg, and made several collaborations with Lutosławski and Kagel.

PHILIPPE ARRII-BLACHETTE

French violinist Philippe Arrii-Blachette died on 30 December. He was 87. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won a violin and chamber music prize and attended masterclasses with Jacques Thibaud and Henryk Szeryng. He was also a prizewinner at the Mexico International Competition.

As a soloist, Arrii-Blachette performed widely in Europe and Latin America. In 1992 he formed the Sillages Ensemble, raising the profile of contemporary music in his home of Brittany and beyond, including performances in Rome, Geneva and Buenos Aires.

He produced 80 musical programmes for television between 1970 and 1974. He performed in the 2E2M ensemble from 1978 to 1983 and became director of the France-Culture Musical Programme at Radio France from 1985 to 1988.

As an educator, Arrii-Blachette was professor of violin and chamber music at the Municipal Conservatory of Pantin from 1976 to 1981, as well as director of the National School of Music of Romainville, in Seine-Saint-Denis, from 1975 to 1995. Though Parisian by birth, Arrii-Blachette settled in Brest, and served as director of the Brest Conservatory from 1995 to 2002.

RICHARD ADAMS

US violinist Richard ‘Dick’ Adams died on 13 December at the age of 94. He was assistant concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra (formerly Minnesota Symphony) from 1956 to 1991.

Born in 1929, Adams began studying the violin at the age of six with his father, who was also a violinist in the Minnesota Orchestra. At 14 he made his solo debut with the orchestra.

He went on to study under Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School. Following his studies, Adams won the concertmaster position with the Dallas Symphony but military service intervened. Instead he played with the Air Force orchestra for four years, performing as soloist around the US. He then went on to serve as concertmaster with the American Ballet Theater in New York. Adams returned to Minnesota in 1956 to take up his position of assistant concertmaster with the orchestra there, performing in numerous venues in the state. In addition he taught many pupils at the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, and privately. He retired from the Minnesota Orchestra in 1991.