How are we doing in the Heartland?

Elizabeth Schulze, formerly with WCFSO

Originally published May 14, 2011

My most recent post addressed the still-blatantly sexist view of women on the podium and since then, I have decided to look at the "fate" of the females within our orchestras here in Iowa.  Some of the orchestras have well-maintained archival records on their web sites; others do not.  Thus, this is am unfortunately unscientific survey of the equality of the sexes in Iowa's "Big Six" symphony orchestras, i.e. the Quad City Symphony, "Orchestra Iowa" (formerly known as the Cedar Rapids Symphony), the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, the Des Moines Symphony, the Dubuque Symphony, and the Sioux City Symphony.  The scorecard follows (in alphabetical order):

Cedar Rapids Symphony ("Orchestra Iowa"):  The current conductor is Timothy Hankewich, on staff since Fall 2006.  His predecessor was Christian Tiemeyer, who served as music director/conductor for 23 years.  A complete list of past conductors of this fine orchestra must exist somewhere, but I have been unable to locate it.

Des Moines Symphony:  The current conductor is Joseph Giunta, who has served that organization for 22 seasons (I find it more than ironic that his biography does not list the 17 seasons he served as the music director of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony).  From 1937 to 1967, the organization was known as the Drake-Des Moines Symphony, so one would assume that it began as a "town and gown" ensemble.  Again, I had tremendous difficulty in even determining the identification of Mr. Giunta's immediate predecessor.

Dubuque Symphony:  Fortunately this one is easy as the orchestra has only had three "chiefs" in its over 50-year history--all men.  Current Music Director is William Intriligator.

Quad City Symphony:  Has always been conducted by a male; the current music director is Mark Russell Smith, who also balances his time there with work at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the University of Minnesota.

Sioux City Symphony:  actually enjoyed the musical leadership of female conductor Xian Zhang from 2005-2007.  However, it is blatantly obvious (from an examination of the available press) that the symphony board knew that this would be a short-term employment.  Ms. Zhang left the orchestra due to "overwork and other health concerns" before the conclusion of her three-year contract.

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony:  One might say that the WCFSO has the best "track record" in terms of employment of women on the podium.  Jeanette Sheerer served as conducted in 1944 (of course, this was wartime) and few in the area will forget the tumultuous three-year term of former conductor Elizabeth Schulze (1994-97).  This orchestra actually went through several searches before the emergence of current music director, Jason Weinberger, who joined the orchestra in 2002 and has brought long-needed stability to that band.

Iowa's report card does not look favorably.  The youngest orchestra on the list is Dubuque, which was organized in 1958 and the oldest is Sioux City, which boasted its first performance in 1916.  With only three documented female conductors in six orchestras over nearly a century of music making, our grade would have to be a most dismal F.