Elayne Jones, the first Black woman to hold a principal position in a major U.S. orchestra, has died at 94.
Jones joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1972, when Seiji Ozawa was the orchestra's music director. She was denied tenure twice. The first time, two members of the tenure committee had the nerve to score her skill level at 1 out of 100, which is obviously racist and sexist bullshit: you wouldn't get past the send-us-a-tape stage of the audition process with that skill level. Nor would you have graduated from Juilliard or played in the NY City Opera orchestra or had a freelance career in NYC. The second time, they had doubts about her intonation. I wasn't there, but one certainly wonders whether this was the case.
- David Allen, NY Times obit
- Janos Gereben, SFCV obit
- Joshua Kosman looks back at the 1970s
- Elayne Jones wrote a memoir.
UPDATED: 1/3/2023, 1/28/2023
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