QUOTE(BerkshireMum @ Sep 20 2007, 04:09 PM) 
QUOTE(AmandaL @ Sep 20 2007, 03:49 PM)
Most professional orchestras are still a 60/40 split, men to women - with the exception of the Vienna Phil, which at the last count had just one female, a violist. Is/was she a token gesture, so they weren't prosecuted for discrimination?
I agree with your figures on professional orchestras, but I think if you looked at the age profile you would find far more females than males in the 25-35 age range for violin. When women have a young family they tend to drop out of orchestras whereas the men stay in, which is one reason why there are more men overall.
I think this is partly because the LSO has an allure that many other orchestras don't have and once people get in, they are reluctant to part with their seat. For a start, it's an astoundlingly good orchestra and one that is very difficult to get a permanent position in. Third and fourth year conservatoire students would give their eye-teeth for an opportunity to be an LSO 'dep'. The orchestra's tours are also pretty exotic. Apart from Europe they travel to the Middle East, the Far East and every other year, they perform at the Daytona Beach Music Festival, giving them a two week expenses paid trip to Florida. They also have an annual slot at the Canary Islands Music Festival, sometime around February.
Additionally, once you drop out from orchestral playing entirely (even if only for two or three years), musicians struggle to keep up enough practice that will ensure them a future job. Sad, but unfortunately true.
