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An anecdote from Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink:
In 1980, Abbie Conant, a trombone player, couldn't seem to get a position in any orchestra in Europe. Then Munich Phil responded to her application (incorrectly addressing her as Mr.), inviting her to audition. Although screening was rare at the time, it was instituted in this round of auditions because one of the applicants was the son of an instrumentalist in a Munich orchestra. After she had finished playing and walked off-stage, the conductor cried out, "That's who we want!" The remaining 17 players were sent home.
How awkward it was when they realised that they had chosen a woman for the job! The conductor believed that a woman could not play the trombone. This orchestra had one or two women on violin and oboe ("feminine" instruments), but the trombone was considered too masculine for a woman.
Conant took the job.
In 1981, the conductor demoted Conant to 2nd trombone, with no explanation. Later, she was put on probation. The conductor told her that the orchestra needed a man for the solo trombone.
Conant took the case to court. The orchestra's lawyers argued that Conant didn't possess the necessary physical strength to be a leader of the trombone section. So she was sent to a lung clinic for extensive testing: she blew into sensors, gave a blood sample to show how much oxygen she was capable of absorbing, scoring well above average on all tests. The nurse even asked Conant if she was an athlete. The conductor claimed that Conant's "shortness of breath was overhearable" in her performances, even though she'd been singled out for praise from the guest conductor. Conant also played the most difficult passages in the trombone repertoire for a special audition in front of a trombone expert -- who was effusive. The conductor then claimed that she was unreliable and unprofessional, but those were easily refuted lies.
After 8 years, she was reinstated as first trombone. She also won another round of legal battles over fair pay (on par with Conant's male colleagues).
She prevailed in these cases because she could mount an argument that the Munich Phil couldn't rebut: The conductor, the man complaining about her ability, had listened to Conant play under conditions of perfect objectivity, and in that unbiased moment, he had exclaimed, "That's who we want!" and sent the remaining trombonists packing. Conant was saved by the screen.
When I read this story from Gladwell's book, I thought of several female conducting students I know who will never be saved by a screen. Problem is, a conductor's work cannot occur without being seen, so there's not much that can be done if prejudice prevents musicians from perceiving a female conductor's movements and expressions objectively.
Thing is, the fact that women are now playing for orchestras isn't a trivial change. It matters because it not only opened up a world of opportunity for people who had previously been locked out, but more importantly, orchestras now hire better musicians, and better musicians mean better music.
So even if there's no way to provide screen-like protections during conducting auditions, it would still behoove all musicians (and by extension, all people) to try their best to be objective and to strive for this objectivity, if for nothing else, then for the pursuit of something better than we have now.
