Het baton-plafond: Over vrouwelijke dirigenten en Tár

Abstract

It remains very exceptional when highly gifted women musicians are crowned Maestra, (chief-)conductor of a professional symphony orchestra. There are various explanations for this deprivation. Contextualized in historical and statistical data, this chapter zooms in on what I call the ‘Baton Barrier’. Not so much of an invisible boundary as has become known as the glass ceiling, preventing women their upward mobility, for ages, this musical barrier has been in our face: literally, the image, the portrayal of the traditionally masculine orchestral director.