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REASON * November 1997

Orchestral Maneuvers

By Nick Gillespie

A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research applies
the concept of a level playing field to the symphonic stage. In
"Orchestrating Impartiality," economists Claudia Goldin and Cecelia 
Rouse demonstrate that female orchestra musicians have benefitted 
hugely from the use of "blind" auditions, in which candidates perform 
out of the sight of evaluators.

In 1970 female musicians made up only 5 percent of players in the 
country's top orchestras...

But beginning in the '70s and '80s, more and more of the orchestras 
switched to blind auditions, partly to avoid charges of such bias. 
Female musicians currently make up 25 percent of the "Big Five." 
Through an analysis of orchestral management files and audition
records, Goldin and Rouse conclude that blind auditions increased by 
50 percent the probability that a woman would make it out of early 
rounds. And, they say, the procedure explains between 25 percent 
and 46 percent of the increase in women in orchestras from 1970 to
1996.