The question whether the women only panel discussion and concert was=20
necessary and if so why it was necessary have arisen. And this is not a=20
surprise.
I am one of the participants of the above-mentioned events. I also asked=20
myself the same questions and gave Ronnie Seldin, the organiser of the=20
festival a hard time. I could somehow see a point with the panel discussi=
on=20
but thought it would be far better to make all these women play among the=
=20
men in the other concerts. Many of the other women who participated had t=
he=20
same or similar doubts.
So what do we actually do when we put a large number of women together in=
a=20
corner of an event?
Are we being specially promoted?
Are we being marginalised?
Are we sharing the fate of other women serving as entertainment for men?
The list could go on!
But shakuhachi brothers and sisters, take a look around! Of the players y=
ou=20
consider as top shakuhachi players worth listening to, how many are women=
?=20
Women do occupy more than half of the world population. So, why is the=20
number for most of us 0?
Is it because women do play worse than men?
Is it because women are not encouraged to play the shakuhachi?
Is it because the world doesn=92t take women shakuhachi players seriously=
?
Is it because women are not interested in shakuhachi music?
In any case, which ever-answer you choose, a panel discussion about women=
=20
and shakuhachi would be a place where some of these questions could be=20
answered.
It is true that many other groups are marginalised. But because we have n=
ot=20
paid attention to these groups is it fair and a good reason not to pay=20
attention to women, half the world?
The panel discussion actually went better than I hoped for. Many of my=20
fellow female shakuhachi players preferred to talk about everything else=20
than gender as they said it hasn=92t been an issue for them or they were =
not=20
interested in it. We were 2 women keen to talk about gender and I was one=
of=20
them. The reason being: If there is a reason for putting 12 women in a=20
panel with the only common thing being that we are women playing shakuhac=
hi,=20
we better discuss why it was still necessary to make a =91women=92s event=
=92 in=20
order to enable this amount of female shakuhachi players to participate i=
n a=20
world shakuhachi festival. The last festival 2 years ago in Tokyo had one=
=20
woman performing a sankyoku piece, Veronique from France. Please, enlight=
en=20
me about how many there were in Boulder and Bisei. I wasn=92t there. So t=
hanks=20
to the =91women event=92 the percentage of women in the festival rose qui=
te a=20
bit from last time.
The problem discussing gender in a panel like the one we had is that it c=
an=20
quickly become a complaint about I had this and that experience and I fee=
l=20
so discriminated etc. I certainly had the biggest responsibility if anybo=
dy=20
thought the discussion went in that direction. We also had comments from =
the=20
floor that gender is not interesting and that we are beyond that and that=
=20
other groups are just as discriminated. However, we also had a very solid=
=20
support from the women shakuhachi players on the floor.
Are women marginalised in music? Yes I think so. And that is not only=20
shakuhachi music. Take for example the BBC Proms, the biggest classical=20
music festival in the world with 74 evening concerts almost all for full=20
orchestras and many other smaller events. The BBC is usually known for=20
trying to have many women in their orchestra, so if these figures makes y=
ou=20
think the situation is bad, think how bad it is other places:
Number of composers: 123
Women composers: 2 (1.5%)
Number of pieces: 269
Pieces by women: 2 (0.75%)
Conductors/directors: 56
Women conductors: 1 (1.8%)
Instrumental soloists: 14 women out of 64 (22%)
This is taken from a survey by Bruce Paterson and Jenny Fowler. They have=
=20
done the survey for more than 15 years and say the amount of women solois=
ts=20
is the best since they started surveying and the composers is the worst. =
So=20
there certainly is still lots to think about not only in the shakuhachi=20
world but also in the music world in general. (yes, I did mention this=20
example in the panel =96 sorry to repeat myself).
I think all the women that participated in the panel and concert agrees t=
hat=20
we would not like a =91women corner=92 to happen again in another festiva=
l. But=20
I think it was a very positive experience for all of us. It was great to=20
meet that many women shakuhachi players, and most importantly thanks to t=
his=20
=91event=92 we were able to hear 12 (you may erase me =96 if you wish) ve=
ry=20
talented and good female shakuhachi players! That was something! I was,=20
myself, really surprised by the level and the variety of music and styles=
we=20
played. And by this strong manifestation I do hope more than one woman wo=
uld=20
be invited to play at the next festivals without organiseing a special=20
=91women only corner. I feel very strongly gratitude to Ronnie Seldin for=
what=20
he did. Yes, we should be beyond the era of =91women only shakuhachi even=
ts=92.=20
But that may only be because we had this event in the New York festival! =
The=20
most important thing is anyway trying to be out there performing and=20
inspiring future players.
Regarding non-Japanese players being marginalised. Haven=92t especially N=
orth=20
American players showed their influence and level by having hosted 2 of t=
he=20
4 world shakuhachi festivals and having several camps there? Cultural=20
snobbery exist everywhere, and I don=92t really think it=92s a general op=
inion=20
that non-Japanese can=92t play shakuhachi among Japanese shakuhachi playe=
rs=20
anymore. I think, or I certainly hope these world shakuhachi festivals ha=
ve=20
proven that.
I think it is very exciting to see how this women event at the festival i=
s=20
going to influence how future festival organisers would choose performers=
in=20
the future. Also, we are now more aware of the female players and can=20
probably do more work together across genders. Yes, the women event was a=
=20
very positive experience. Thank you, Ronnie for doing it! I think it was =
a=20
great event and we needed it.
Best,
Kiku
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