Leeds Piano Competition Adopts “Blind” Pre-Competition Rounds and Bias Training to Address Misogyny in Classical Music

In Saturday’s (2/3) Guardian (U.K.), Dalya Alberge writes, “A discordant chord over sexism in the classical music world has sounded again. The head of one of the most prestigious competitions is calling for the industry to confront an apparent bias that is holding back female pianists from pursuing concert careers, however brilliant their talent. Fiona Sinclair, chief executive of the Leeds International Piano Competition [said] that female pianists are failing to reach the top of their profession despite an equal number of men and women now training at conservatoires…. ‘Fewer than 23% of career pianists are women, yet in the conservatoires it’s roughly 50:50. As they leave college, the men soar while the women are not getting opportunities.’… The 2024 Leeds competition has introduced new measures, including ‘blind’ pre-selection rounds to disguise genders and ‘unconscious bias training’ for the jurors, who will not have a musician’s name, nationality, age or conservatoire until an advanced round…. Recent research found that only 20% of piano recitals or concertos in the UK are given by women, and only 19% of solo or concerto recordings are made by women….  Vick Bain, the Independent Society of Musicians’ former president … said that her ongoing PhD research reflects that sexism and misogyny are holding back women’s musical careers.”