Classical music ensembles across the U.S. might have to face the music on race-based hiring practices sooner rather than later after a landmark lawsuit out of Tennessee alleged the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) discriminated against a top white musician and replaced him with a less skilled non-white musician.
In his suit, filed in late December in a Knox County, Tennessee circuit court, acclaimed clarinetist James Zimmermann seeks more than $72,000 in recouped damages over accusations that the KSO deemed him the best man for the job of principal clarinet before passing on him for a candidate he beat out on merit.
In a Jan. 5 rundown of the legal case posted to his X account, Zimmermann explained that he was invited to and “unanimously” won a blind audition for principal clarinet of the KSO in September. The victory, Zimmermann said, was especially sweet after months of “practicing like a mad man” — clocking approximately 100 rehearsal hours on his clarinet.
The renowned reedist noted, however, his high hopes of re-entering the symphony world after a five-year hiatus were quickly dashed when the KSO CEO informed him she decided “not to move forward with offering you a contract of employment.” Instead, the coveted first chair position would go to the musician Zimmermann dubbed “an obvious DEI hire who’s still in college.”
The lawsuit alleges that “they discriminated against me because of skin color and hired a non-white player, who was my runner-up in the audition,” Zimmermann explained in his Jan. 6 interview with Megyn Kelly.
A screenshot of the Sept. 18 email he reportedly received from KSO CEO Rachel Ford purports that the orchestra snubbed Zimmermann due to the nature of his exit from the Nashville Symphony in 2020.
“Please know our decision is final and we will not participate in any ongoing communications related to this matter,” Ford concluded.
The Washington Free Beacon reported in 2021 that Zimmermann, the Nashville Symphony’s 12 year-principal clarinetist, was fired over “accusations of racial harassment.” However, as the outlet reported, documents and interviews with former colleagues suggest his employer’s tokenism impulses in hiring a black oboist who “many regarded as unqualified” gave way to a “witch hunt” against Zimmermann — who was frustrated by the hiring decision — and ultimately to his ousting.
“The conductor didn’t like [the oboist]. Well, none of us liked him. But management liked him. The CEO liked him because he was his golden child, his DEI ticket to success. He’s like, ‘Look, we’re going to parade this guy around everywhere and show everybody how righteous we are.’ He’s a human virtue signal, which, by the way, is quite racist to tokenize somebody and do this, parade them around for their skin color. And I objected to all of this,” Zimmermann told Kelly.
Zimmermann’s suit states the KSO “would have proceeded with hiring” Zimmermann if he had “not been a white male, particularly a white male who had previously expressed opposition to DEI initiatives,” according to Legal Newsline.
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment, but the organization apparently maintains its decision to snub Zimmermann was motivated by “safety concerns.” Ford said the KSO “expects to make a public announcement on the matter later this week,” a Fox News article reported
Zimmermann’s recent allegation that the KSO overlooked him, a white male, for a less talented clarinetist due to DEI appears to be the first of its kind in the orchestra world. The debut case even piqued the interest of U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, who signaled that her employees at the anti-discrimination arm of the Department of Justice “have questions” for KSO.
“I was just looking to get back in the game, put 2020 behind me, and earn money for my kids’ college doing what I love. But if I’m blacklisted, it’s either pushback against the people in charge or walk away,” Zimmermann warned in his social media monologue.
He added that KSO is “sorely mistaken” if they think he is backing down.
The Nashville and Knoxville symphonies aren’t the only ones afflicted by leaders who allegedly prioritize affirmative action over merit. Several orchestras across the country introduced blind auditions, tryouts where musicians are kept hidden behind a screen to prevent visual bias from judges, as a means to “increase representation of women, people of color.”
In 2020, the New York Times’ then-chief classical music critic Anthony Tommasini called for the end of these anonymous auditions by orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic in favor of a process that prioritizes “race, gender and other factors.” He readily admitted blind auditions gave some ensembles a diversity boost with the addition of talented female musicians, but claimed it was “not enough.”
“If the musicians onstage are going to better reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, the audition process has to be altered to take into fuller account artists’ backgrounds and experiences. Removing the screen is a crucial step,” he demanded.
By 2022, the Times published an article bragging that “Women of the Philharmonic Now Outnumber the Men.” The 45 to 44 majority held by the females was not the only DEI “milestone” celebrated by both the Philharmonic and corporate media. The Times also cheered “more equitable facilities backstage” and amplified New York Philharmonic President and Chief Executive Deborah Borda’s declaration that “All we seek is equity … because society is 50-50.”
“Hopefully I’ll win my lawsuit, make an example of the Knoxville symphony, and orchestras will go back to hiring the best players the way they did before DEI ruined the business,” Zimmermann concluded. “It’s either that or leftists keep running orchestras into the ground until they’re gone completely, all in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Jordan Boyd is an award-winning staff writer at The Federalist and producer of “The Federalist Radio Hour.” Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
