tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post733007438019906206..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Did BBC derail career of black conductor?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-82251120595624974662020-03-22T17:52:24.620+00:002020-03-22T17:52:24.620+00:00Several important updates to this article - https:...Several important updates to this article - https://www.overgrownpath.com/2020/02/good-enough-for-berlin-philharmonic-but.htmlPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-80980016849614519132015-12-29T01:08:49.008+00:002015-12-29T01:08:49.008+00:00There is one more African-American musician who st...There is one more African-American musician who started out as a clarinetist and progressed to conducting, namely Leslie Dunner, who from time to time still performs as a clarinetist, but for the most part has conducted many orchestras here in America and abroad. One would have hoped that his inroads would have led him to conduct in England, but to my knowledge he has not been there yet. Ditto many other conductors including Julius Williams, Andre Raphel, Kirk Smith and, of all surprises, Anton Armstrong, whose St. Olaf Choir has been lauded by many all over the world and should have been invited to the Proms.<br /><br />What is equally sad is that very few composers of color have ever been programmed at the Proms, including several Afro-British composers that are all but unknown to many listeners.Kevin Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11168548308074459074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-13880119617901463952012-07-16T17:24:54.274+01:002012-07-16T17:24:54.274+01:00How many black conductors at the BBC Proms? - http...How many black conductors at the BBC Proms? - http://www.overgrownpath.com/2011/07/how-many-black-conductors-at-bbc-proms.htmlPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-46819981266204865132011-08-16T14:07:16.125+01:002011-08-16T14:07:16.125+01:00Bob, I've just had s shufti at Google Book Sea...Bob, I've just had s shufti at Google Book Search. There are quite a few 'mentions' of Dunbar, and these overall gave me no great confidence in the accuracy of those works. Two of them had the idea he became conductor-in-chief of the BPO after Borchard's death, and one of those thought he was a pianist.<br /><br />However, I did make note of Rudolph Dunbar by Lambert Surhone, et al., 110 pages and apparently from Wiki articles, if I understood the blurb correctly. I can't think that is really the case, but who knows. Published by VDM Verlag in 2010.<br /><br />And then, Black Conductors by D. Antoinette Handy, apparently a collective biography with Dunbar included. Published by Scarecrow Press, 1995. The snippet visible in GBS does mention that there is much Dunbar memorabilia at Yale.<br /><br />I was able to see a little more of Analyzing Performance: a critical reader, by Patrick Campbell, Manchester U.P., 1995. That glimpse mentions racism as part of Dunbar's problems in the U.K. There is then an anecdote about Sargent saying to Harold Holt, "Whos is this Dunbar? Have you seen him conduct?" To which HH replied that he hadn't seen Toscanini, but he'd invited him to conduct in London. The problem I have with this is the author's reflexive assumption that Sargent's words to Holt were the product of reflexive racism. Any conductor hearing that someone he'd never heard of was going to conduct his orchestra might say the same. And Sargent, after all, did much to promote Avril Coleridge-Taylor in the 30s and 40s -- a conductor of mixed race AND a woman. Although, and just a short digression here, I've noticed over time that conductors active from that period, including Szell and others of that ilk, were strikingly accepting of woman conductors. The problem lay elsewhere...now where might that be?<br /><br />Hope this is of interest. I think we'll track down that BBC man eventually.Philip Amoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739418522974972567noreply@blogger.com