Posted by Heather Noyes on June 24, 2003 at 18:29:49:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Results from Womens Brass Conference posted by Kevin on June 24, 2003 at 13:21:32:
Before you get all worked up, please inform yourself of the facts. The competition is open to both sexes, there were more men than women competing and at the last conference, all the winners were men. The IWBC exists to provide opportunities that will educate, develop, support and inspire all women brass musicians who desire to pursue professional careers in music. As a male you may not realize that many females are discouraged from pursuing a brass instrument, and this organization serves to inform and mostly inspire females. Had you attended the conference last week, which was the best conference I have ever attended, you would have realized that both men and women were featured performers and both men and women were in attendace. Having attended many ITECS, I have always felt very intimidated and left out and for the first time I felt welcomed and included, regardless of my ability or aims in music. I'm all for competing equally with men, I just really liked the opportunity to be treated as an equal for once in my life. On the Honorary Board of Directors you will find Gene Pokorny and Leonard Slatkin. Both Dan Perantoni and Brian Bowman were featured performers at this years conference. There was no male bashing at any point, and no feminist attitudes to be found, just a love of music and community.
The IWBC was founded by Susan Slaughter in 1990 in response to results from a survey issued to over fourteen hundred women brass players. Membership is open to all women and men who would like to support this effort.