orchestra of the 21st century?

I observe far more women in the business today generally. Men are abandoning the field for more certain ways of supporting their families.

NL: It's the same in general medical practice. These are career paths that are friendly to child care and can often be job-shared.

The VPO is not so much "antediluvian" anymore: as can be seen on the 2007 New Year Concert DVD, the orchestra now boasts several women (and though the harp is played by a man, the list of musicians on the accompanying booklet cites a woman harpist as well).

NL: The women are brought out for show at New Year and on US tours, to limit protests and legal action. When I last checked the membership list, there were only two female players who had full and equal rights.

Here in America, we have several female concertmasters in major orchestras: Emmanuelle Boisvert in Detroit, Jorza Fleejzanis in Minnesota, and Cecelia Arzewski in Atlanta.

I am afraid it's just a sign of mere prejudice (male chauvinism). Can't really think of a logical explanation. In any case, it has little to do with authority or "being better than" (in my career, I have experienced bad male principals as well).

Michael

PS - come to think of it: In ensembles specialised in ancient music, female occurence (among the instrumentalists (and therefore principals/concert-masters as well) is much higher ...