The Well-Tempered Ear

Did incompetence and political correctness kill the UW Choral Union?

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By Jacob Stockinger

It’s time for some answers.

The taxpaying, music-loving public is owed that much.

But for the past two weeks, administrators in the University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music have stonewalled concerns expressed by the public and alumni.

The school has continued its censorship of social media with a dismissive silence, and offered no specific explanation or reason why the campus-community, town-and-gown UW Choral Union (below) needs to be killed off after 130 years.

But ever since The Ear broke the story, which has only drawn outrage and anger, sources — who asked to remain unnamed — have offered reasons for the very unpopular move by a public university. The Ear can say  now that multiple sources agree in their allegations.

If you need to catch up, here is a link to the original blog posting and comments on June 12:

So the time has come to pass along what the sources say to the general public.

Now it is up to the School of Music to confirm or deny that what the sources say is true.

IS IT INCOMPETENCE?

Everyone who works with her or studies and performs under her has nothing but praise for Mariana Farah (below), the new Director of Choral Activities, as a person, colleague and teacher.

She has been singled out especially for her excellent, outstanding work with small choirs — a cappella choirs and choirs that use piano accompaniment, like the UW Choral Union.

But sources say she has no experience or very little in conducting an orchestra in combination with a large choir.

That is why the Choral Union’s performance last April of Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Laudab Sion” (Praise Zion) was conducted not by Farah, but by Oriol Sans (below), the highly praised conductor of the UW Symphony Orchestra. That also explains why the two shorter choral works were included in a symphony concert along with Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra.

If that is true, it seems a major disqualification for her current position — an oversight, mistake or deliberate policy decision by the administration and the faculty search committee that is hard to understand. 

If The Ear recalls correctly, the UW has never had a choral director who could not conduct orchestras and also teach graduate students to do the same.

If that is true, it seems like Farah is simply not yet experienced enough to lead a major choral program in a Big 10, world-famous university and a very highly rated music school.

Perhaps the school could arrange for conducting the Choral Union to go to Sans. But choral union members say he is more interested in the instrumental orchestra than in the choir. Besides, Sans has plenty of his own duties including teaching, rehearsing and conducting UW Symphony concerts, and accompanying the prize-winning opera program at the UW.

Or maybe the school could hire outside conductors — maybe bring back former director Beverly Taylor who is still working with the Madison Symphony Orchestra — to fill in, although that seems unlikely given budget constraints.

IS IT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS?

So what explains why Farah now heads the choral department at the UW?

Sources say much of the blame has to do with political correctness. 

Farah was desirable because is Brazilian and a woman of color who is interested in exploring new and alternative repertoire — not the great chorus-and-orchestra masterpieces by “dead white men” like Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi and Brahms. And apparently that is what the School of Music wanted too when it hired her over other candidates.

These are serious allegations that the sources are making.

The timing is also unfortunate. This is the last week of duties for the current director of the School of Music, Susan C. Cook (below), who oversaw the hiring of Farah.

Her successor, Dan Cavanagh (below) from Texas, takes office this Saturday and will possibly walk into a major scandal or conflict that he will need to resolve right away.

In addition, some Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature are strong critics of  “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” in the academic world. And this move feeds right into their concerns about shortchanging students and the public when it comes to basic skills and customary benefits.

That means the UW School of Music might be facing even more severe budget cuts.

But if the allegations are true, the administrators at the School of Music will have brought their misfortune upon themselves.

The Ear and the public are waiting to hear what the School of Music says besides the ill-timed, secretive announcement and banal, vague generalities about resources and core mission that they first offered.

Do you know anything more about the situation?

Do you have an opinion as to whether the decision should be reversed and the Choral Union should continue to exist?

Leave a comment in the Comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.