Elayne Jones

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

#MeToo at Juilliard

The other week, VAN Magazine published an important story by music journalist Sammy Sussman, about allegations of sexual improprieties at Juilliard School. These involved the late composer Christopher Rouse and current faculty member Robert Beaser, a former head of the composition department. There are also allegations of discrimination against women by composer John Corigliano. (Corigliano denies this.) Today, Michael Andor Brodeur reports in The Washington Post that Beaser is on leave, pending an investigation into his behavior, and also that hundreds of composers, performers, and artistic leaders have signed a petition asking Juilliard to investigate.

This kind of behavior is everywhere. If you know about sexual harassment, consider reporting it to a journalist, whether you're currently willing to go on the record or not. The more information that can be gathered, the more likely it is that this behavior will become public and investigations will result, whether the miscreant is punished or not.