When the government shuts down a symphony
Plus, a ballet school faces its third lawsuit in four years.
On Thursday I went to the New York Philharmonic, tempted by a program that featured Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto (performed by Behzod Abduraimov and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda) and the knowledge that $22 rush tickets were available that day. My exceedingly good fortune sent me to the third row of the orchestra—an absolute gift, with a direct, close-up view of Abduraimov’s hummingbird hands and Noseda’s kindly grins. It was hard to believe, after the euphoric close of this first number (and Abduraimov’s encore of Liszt’s “La Campanella,”) that the evening could continue to deliver at such a high bar.
Then, after intermission, Noseda returned to the stage and cued the woodwinds. which erupted, along with the xylophone, into a cry. Soon, the strings joined in, thrumming in a percussive beat reminiscent of the overture of Rossini’s 1816 Il barbiere di Siviglia. From that point on, the hour-long symphony—Shostakovich’s fourth—transforms cinematically, dipping into valleys and blooming into brass-heavy peaks. Its end is evocative in its restraint, as the orchestra settles into a deep hum. It’s a kind of sonic fog, through which cuts the mystical sound of a celesta.
There’s something light here: is it a sense of hope emerging? Or is it the last bit of brightness before the dark prevails? The silence after this is as important to the score as what Shostakovich noted himself. Noseda’s arms linger in the air for several seconds before he allows them to float back down to his sides.
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) finished his fourth symphony in 1936, but did not present it to the world until 1961. It was shortly before its scheduled debut that Communist Party officials showed up to a rehearsal of the Leningrad Philharmonic, causing Shostakovich to cancel its performances. It only earlier that same year that Stalin openly decried his opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
Shostakovich’s next symphony, which debuted in 1937, took a more conservative, less experimental approach. It won him back favor with the administration—though Shostakovich’s relationship with the Soviet government remained contentious and fear-driven until his death. “There can be no music without an ideology,” Shostakovich, at 25, told the New York Times in 1931.
When Shostakovich’s fourth symphony made its orchestral premiere in 1961, Soviet and Western critics considered it a success. Stalin had been dead for eight years.
Since the Trump administration 2.0 came into power last January, we’ve seen blatant infringements on the arts: the cancellation of existing NEA grants and repositioning of funding for America-first projects, the takeover of the Kennedy Center, growing executive branch pressure on the Smithsonian, the termination of federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the elimination of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and so on.
What works of art aren’t getting made because of this? Which are being shelved? These are questions for us to consider.
Now, the news.
In case you missed it, a musician went viral last week after not getting a job at the Knoxville Symphony despite winning a blind audition for the role of principal clarinetist. James Zimmerman shared his side of the story on X, saying that the reason he was refused the job was because of his “ousting from the Nashville Symphony six years ago for resisting DEI.” He says he is suing the Knoxville Symphony for “a year’s salary plus $25k for the 100 hours I spent practicing for the audition.”
Trump allies (including Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon) jumped on the story in support of Zimmerman. Of course, his reference to being fired from the Nashville Symphony for being “canceled” and “resisting DEI” should be examined more critically. Journalist Aaron Egger of The Bulwark broke down the full picture.
Notably, the reason Zimmerman was ousted from his prior job was because of interpersonal conflict with Black members of the orchestra, which escalated into Zimmerman sending a five-page email sources described as “manic,” which resulted in the Nashville Symphony hiring armed guards, placing Zimmerman on immediate leave, and firing him a week later. Seems like a valid reason to not pass the reference stage of a job interview process
Also in orchestral news is the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to violinist Esther Hwang, 30, who in December decided to break her NDA, which she signed as a part of a 2019 settlement regarding a sexual-assault complaint she filed against a senior member of the orchestra. The VSO’s settlement did not constitute an admission of liability, as its legal representative said at the time that the conduct did not occur in the workplace, the Vancouver Sun reported.
The same day that Hwang’s story—breaking her NDA in the Globe & Mail—was published, she also sent an extensive letter to the musicians of the VSO, which is now publicly available through oboist Katherine Needleman’s newsletter. “It is important for me to share my story because I do not want anyone else in this orchestra to experience what I went through,” Hwang wrote. “Speaking up is difficult, but I hope that by sharing my experience, it can bring awareness and meaningful change.”
The VSO’s board of directors and president and CEO Angela Elster responded with its own letter, saying that the orchestra is dropping its legal threat against Hwang and will no longer use NDAs in sexual assault cases unless desired by the complainant.
The Dance Theater of Harlem is fighting for the right to its history. Gothamist reported last week that the ballet company, which was founded in 1969, argued in civil court Monday that the heirs of its onetime photographer illegally donated 16 boxes of material to DTH’s former archivist and principal dancer, Judy Tyrus, and her nonprofit ChromaDiverse. As a result of an argument regarding Tyrus’s 2021 book Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, A Movement, A Celebration, ChromaDiverse argued that DTH must stop its usage of all of these photographs—which means that it can’t use them for licensing (a not-insignificant source of revenue) or marketing. A court decision has not yet been announced.
Below the paywall: Museum unrest, the latest with the Kennedy Center, the ballet school facing major lawsuits, and more.
