Abbie Connant Video

[nossnevSnotnA]

I found this video on youtube that i think y'all should check out i really like it and it's about Abbie Connant

[Matt K]

There is one fact about this video that Abbie has disputed. I can't find the copy/paste she created, but the short of it is that she claims to not have lied about her gender. My recollection is it would have been impossible and not useful to conceal. Something about the resume round required a photograph at the time. The purported reason the first round was blind was because of some alleged nepotism that was revealed to the MD, who insisted that it be blind.

EDIT: lol, if I had actually gone to YT instead of just watching the embed, I'd have found this:

The Trombone Channel
Pinned by The Trombone Channel
The Trombone Channel
3 days ago
MAJOR CORRECTION ACCORDING TO ABBIE CONANT!!!

There is one factual error that I should correct. I didn’t lie about my gender in my 1980 application for the Munich Philharmonic. In fact, applicants back then were required to include a photo with their application. I was living in Italy at the time and had never been to Germany. I didn’t even know that women there could face problems in orchestras and thus had no reason to hide my gender.

The reason my application got through is that the orchestra decided to invite everyone and hold the first round behind a screen. This was very rare in Germany in those days, but they were used for my audition because of special circumstances. A young local trombonist had applied for the job. The bass trombonist in the Munich Phil, Robert Meissner, was a friend of both the young trombonist and his father (who was also a trombonist.) He was thus trying to set the job up for the son. The first trombonist in the orchestra, Dankfart Schmidt, got wind of this and objected. He thus persuaded the administration to invite every applicant and hold the first round of the audition behind a screen. The applications were thus not closely scrutinized and everyone was invited. To preserve anonymity at the audition, no names were listed and everyone played behind a screen.

Months later I learned that after I won the audition, Robert Meissner was so furious he invited Dankfart out to the parking lot for a fist fight. Dankfart declined. I showed up for work at the beginning of the season and had no idea of the troubles I would be walking into.

Many thanks to Jack for putting my story into a style that fits the younger generation. Unfortunately, it's still relevant. Jack's YouTube "Trombone Channel" is a real service to the community.

[MStarke]

Although I don't generally like this channel, this is in my opinion a good video to give this important topic attention. Even if it may not be the most precice representation.

[harrisonreed]

Lol, you sure you didn't make the video? First time poster plugging more Trombone Channel videos....three guesses which banned former member it is.

We shouldn't forget what this channel is built on. You stole the hard work of current members of this forum, and still haven't made it right or apologized for that. Your videos are tainted by that, and by the other gross videos you've posted disparaging and taking advantage of professional musicians, as far as I'm concerned.

[Bach5G]

Abbie Conant. Note the spelling.

[Macbone1]

I watched the whole thing and bore in mind that this was all from Abbie's point of view without any candid rebuttal from any of the Germans. Not that I'm doubting her veracity but it would be interesting to hear the mens' side of it, even if just to confirm how loathsome they all really were.

Something else came to mind here, based on the experience of an American acquaintance (male) of mine who was hired by a German radio orchestra circa 1980 (after discharge from a US military band). He only held the job for 1 season before being drummed out - the theory being that he had "stolen" a job from a German and nobody would ever let him forget it. Some of that might have come into play in Abbie's case. They may have just leveraged the gender thing to get her to leave. What an awful context to have to make music in though.

[JasonDonnelly]

Didn't watch the video, and I won't. Harrison is almost certainly on the money with his assessment of who this user is.

Abbie has a very detailed account of her experiences on the website run by her and her husband. If you want to hear it from her, that's probably the best resource to do so.

[Bach5G]

These events occurred ~ 40 years ago.

[RustBeltBass]

It is my understanding that the creator of this video has indeed caused controversy with prior videos and burned some bridges, although I don’t know the whys and when’s and whats. It is however worth noting that Abbie Conant seems to like his work on that particular video. In her statements on Facebooks she wrote the following:

“Jack Burrows has made an interesting 25-minute video about my experiences in the Munich Philharmonic. Jack does good work and creates fast paced videos that appeal to the young social media generation. I really appreciate his work and enjoyed watching the video, but there is one factual error that I should correct..” (The factual error has already been pointed out before, so I am not repeating it here)

“Many thanks to Jack for putting my story into a style that fits the younger generation. Unfortunately, it's still relevant. Jack's YouTube "Trombone Channel" is a real service to the community.”


Since the video is primarily based on the chronological order of events and her own experiences, her happiness with the finally product is probably the only criteria needed to consider this a good video.

[ZacharyThornton]

These events occurred ~ 40 years ago.

So?