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"The female conductor is more taboo even than the female astronaut" said the famous conductor Marin Alsop.
Not that we have managed to have female astronauts but possibly wanting to underline that this profession is completely unfriendly to women.
Thank you for inviting me to address your "Equality in Pontium" event. It is indeed, as the Deputy Minister also mentioned, a pioneering event and I take this opportunity to again congratulate the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation both for today's event and for adopting a policy of equal distribution of assignments for guest conductors and soloists between men and women.
Although it is a subject we do not often touch upon, perhaps the first time we have done so, it is at the same time a reminder that there is no area in which the gender dimension does not need to be incorporated. More specifically, by gender, we mean in simple terms that no state, no organisation should take any decisions before ensuring that those decisions and their effects will have a positive equal impact on 50% of its population. In other words, how, when a decision is adopted, will it be ensured that those conditions exist that will allow it to have an equal impact on the entire population of the state, regardless of gender, and that all and sundry will benefit equally.
In the context of today's event, it is a fact that the conducting profession is a purely, traditionally male-dominated profession and in which the gender dimension is urgently needed to be integrated. The integration of the gender dimension can begin at two parallel levels. Firstly, in the decision-making centres, i.e. in the organisation itself, and secondly, in the access of women to this area. There is also no sector in which both women and men are not needed. Against this background, therefore, gender mainstreaming is necessary. It is now well known that when we use the right human resources we get better, different results. It has been proven both through studies and in practice that when we invest in women, communities, societies, companies, and ultimately countries are upgraded. The same is true in the field of music.
Although we don't have official statistics, we watch many girls train in music either by learning an instrument, music theory, or singing, but very few manage to reach high positions in classical music.
A conductor, as you clearly know better than me, is the person who is literally at the center of every orchestral performance. He or she shapes the music and makes important decisions regarding the dynamics, rhythm and balance of the music. The orchestra is, after all, a small society, led by the conductor or the conductor. It is able to perform a piece of music that has been performed countless times before in new and different and possibly enlightening ways. The question is whether this particular position has anything to do with the fact that the conductor is a leadership position and consciously or unconsciously refers to a male figure. It is, yes, a traditionally male-dominated position and even today counts few women who have managed to overcome the prejudices that exclude them from positions of power and from leading orchestras around the world.
How many of us know that the Greek Anna Maria Gouni is the first female conductor and music director of the Conroe Symphony Orchestra in Texas, or that Oksana Lyniv is the first conductor of the Bayreuth Festival in 145 years, or that in French musical institutions only 4% of conductors are women, and that in Europe in general only 6% of conductors are women.
In the last ten months I have talked to many, many women and participated in dozens of events on women mathematicians, women in conflicts/war and peace processes, women in shipping, in sport, in science, among others. What do all of the above have in common with today's? That women are not recognized, not heard and not promoted.
I will repeat what I have mentioned in previous events and I will not tire of repeating it. Women need a space and a voice so that women's role models can be created which should be heard and promoted. The fact is that we cannot be what we do not see.
For our part, our Office, both through the new National Strategy for Gender Equality that was just approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers and which for the first time includes a thematic section on Women and Culture, and through patience, perseverance and strategic partnerships, we work every day to break down every negative and limiting stereotype and anachronistic prejudices. Prejudices and sexist comments like Maestro Petrenko saying that "orchestras react better when they have a man in front of them because a cute girl on the podium means that musicians are thinking about other things."
Let's not allow any more sexist comments that will prevent girls and women from becoming what they dream of.
I choose to close with a comment by Ms. Zoe Zeniodi, who said in an interview that we need "creative people, people with empathy, people who can blossom fully. Let us finally work in this direction. Let's create the structures needed for people to continue to be human."
Mrs. Zeniodi, Mrs. Kountouri, it is an honour to have you with us tonight and thank you for paving the way for younger girls.
(ASP/GC)
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