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Carolyn Watson, Conducting Her Way
Women Conductors of orchestras, why do reviewers comment on their costume rather than their conducting? Why do women conductors still face unconscious bias? Dr Carolyn Watson shares insights from her research, also optimism and wisdom on this podcast.
Conductor Dr Carolyn Watson started her musical career in Australia playing violin. What began with Suzuki violin studies at the age of five, blossomed into a lifelong passion as a violinist, conductor and music educator. Carolyn is now Principle Guest Conductor at the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and Musical Director at the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra Indiana and is Director of Orchestras at the University of Illinois. Her interest in conducting grew from a hobby and something she enjoyed to her career as a conductor, now commissioning works from six female composers for the University of Illinois to celebrate its 150th anniversary the 1874 Project.
The days of the old style image of a conductor behaving like a dictator are long gone Carolyn Watson believes and it is not her style. “I think a lot of people have this pretty outdated view of what a conductor does. They stand on the podium, and they’re the all knowing, all seeing, Maestro, and they likely have a difficult, domineering kind of personality, but that really doesn’t wash today, certainly not for for modern day conductors, and most, most certainly not for for women, obviously. So I very much enjoy the rehearsal process and the working with people and collaborating”.
Watson says women conductors are often judged and reviewed as an anomaly, something a bit strange. “We absolutely read every time that a woman is appointed to, particularly a high profile conducting position, there seems to be a media frenzy, and it’s like ‘she’s a trailblazer, and she was the first ever woman’, and wouldn’t it be nice to be in a place where she was just like another woman, because we don’t have ‘this is the 72nd man appointed to this position’. You know, it still makes news headlines, as does what we what we wear and I think generally, most women would really much prefer just our work be evaluated.”
Conductor Carolyn Watson University Illinois
Unconscious Bias and Networking Issues, Still Hampering Women’s Careers
The truth is that women are hugely underrepresented in the world of conductors. “Women make up 3% of female conductors. Other statistics I’ve read, with respect to the number of conductors working in the US, hovers around the 10% mark. But that does include professional orchestras, community orchestras, youth orchestras, and particularly the further down the ranks we get, we saw we see more women in those entry level positions, in those smaller orchestras, and certainly working in music education.” Unconscious bias has a role to play too she believes. “There’s a lot of networking, there’s a lot of getting to know people. There’s a lot of word of mouth, those sorts of things. I think people like to associate with those people who are like them. When the vast majority of the people that are doing the hiring are men, they’re very comfortable around younger men. So I think that’s definitely a part of it. It has been encouraging to see in the last few years that there are some targeted programmes like the Dallas Opera Heart Institute for Women conductors that are aiming to redress the gender imbalance.”
Carolyn has terrific financial advice learned early on from her frugal Australian parents which has stood her in good stead she says. To hear her ‘Pearls of Wisdom, financial advice, her go to music and observations on life as a woman conductor, have a listen to the podcast.
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https://www.carolyn-watson.com/
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