WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
sitting in an Albrecht Mayer masterclass
The laughter from the audience in this video really gets me. The video is from a March, 2025 masterclass, so it’s not from some far-off, ancient vestige of the past. I’ve watched other recent problematic masterclass videos, and no matter what is wrong with what’s happening at the front of the room, the sound of the audience’s laughter is always the worst for me.
It’s the sound of “I don’t like this but am going to let it pass. Let me make you comfortable to say inappropriate things with my laughter.”
This particular laughter comes after Mayer offers no technical advice about attacking a low E to a woman oboe student, but rather mocks, using a high and ridiculous voice, his idea of the internal monologue of women. He also thrusts his chest forward in what is—at best—a confusing gesture. Is he pretending to have breasts, like he assumes the women he mocks here have? I just don’t know, but I know if I were in the room, I would hope to have a response beyond laughter.
He goes on to discuss how to “break up with your boyfriend” and then to thank God when a student plays something with his preferred timing. Again, listen for the laughter from the audience throughout.
And when the student uses a fingering he doesn’t like, it’s “don’t make me kill you.” Less laughter here, but still: listen for it.
I think it’s well past time for everyone, me included, to develop a plan for what to do in these situations. Here are my thoughts for the moment. Please comment any other ideas.
I’ll start with the most obvious:
Don’t laugh. These so-called educational interactions are not funny.
It seems that people are frozen in uncomfortable laughter because we don’t have a plan of how to act. I can’t imagine everyone in the audience is okay with what has been happening in oboe masterclasses lately. In fact, I know they are not. I’ve received recent a myriad of complaints from students about hosting teachers allowing masterclass artists to touch women students, address them in a way which comes off as sexist, and make comments about Jews as if nothing is awry—in just the past few months alone. Surely no student or hosting teacher wants this to happen, it’s just that they don’t know how to deal with it in the moment, right?
Right?
I hope this is it. So here are my ideas at the moment. I don’t have great ones and hope you have better. I think the planning and thinking in advance will be helpful.
What do you do if you are hosting the masterclass?
It’s probably good to communicate your “rules” ahead of time. “Mr. BFM, I know this is probably overkill and obvious already to you personally, but just so you know how things are for my studio/school, we do not touch students and try to keep our commentary appropriate. The masterclass will be recorded for the benefit of the students.” (Even record with an iPhone on a tripod if the high tech stuff is not in place, this is fine.) Maybe this will help the problematic ones to clean up their presentation in advance.
Next, don’t hire anyone you think is likely to talk about boyfriends, any particular race of people, describe bodies, or mock women. Just don’t. There are plenty of other educators you can hire, and they’ll probably be better for the students if they have the language skills to communicate their musical and technical ideas without all of this.
But let’s assume you find yourself in a “holy shit” situation. Let’s assume that you don’t have the strength of character to say, I’m sorry, Mr. BFM, we don’t mock women (or insert other mocked group of the moment) here at My Conservatory. Could we find a way to rephrase that? (Or: Mr. BFM, remember? We don’t touch students here. Student, are you okay? Do you need a break? Mr. BFM, can you please explain without touching?)
It is tricky once something bad happens at the front of the room. How do you best allow the student to continue? How do you make the event as non-traumatic as possible? How do you allow the student to move forward afterward? These are difficult questions but I know the answer is not to laugh.
Maybe this artist you’ve invited is way more famous than you are and you are shocked by their behavior and feel like you can’t really call it out in public because after all, you are not used to doing that.
Maybe if you don’t have the strength of character to be direct when he’s mocking women, you can jump up and interrupt him. “Mr. BFM, do you have everything you need here? Do you need a coffee or some water? Another music stand? I can send a student to get it for you.” I don’t love this plan but if you are too uncomfortable to do anything else, I think it’s better than nothing.
Another "less aggressive" intervention could be a really stupid and non-sequitur question from you, the host. "Mr. BFM, what kind of cane are you using these days? What shaper tip do you think is best for low E? I struggle with that one too." The stupider the better, because everyone will be distracted wondering why you asked that.
Maybe it’s better to suggest a short intermission. “Dear Audience, we’re going to insert a 10 minute coffee break here; let’s please resume our seats at 11:45am.” Pull the student aside. Ask them if they are okay and want to continue after the break. Improvise and add another student who is willing if they do not wish to continue. Pull the masterclass artist aside before resuming. Explain why what they said or did is not in line with your values and those of your institution. Ask them to apologize and explain another way to the student, one which does not mock them on the basis of an inborn trait. If you feel awkward doing this, blame it on your institution. “I will get in a lot of trouble or fired if I allow this to stand here.” If you are not happy with their response, end the class before it resumes. Go back onstage at 11:45am and say there has been a change of plans. You can finish the class or invite someone else from the audience to do the same. If the masterclass artist appears to understand what you are saying and wants to continue the class, watch carefully and if they do the same thing again, interrupt and end the class.
Convene your students afterward without the masterclass artist. Explain why you called the break and apologize to them for unwittingly putting them in that position. Explain that this is not in line with the values you promote. Explain that you failed and hope they can use this experience to host better masterclasses when it is their own turn.
And this part is also obvious but not done: Make sure not to invite this person back. Make sure to tell your colleagues what happened at the masterclass you hosted so they can avoid a similar inappropriate situation for their students.
What do you do if you are a professional of some status in the room?
Get your body up and go whisper into the ear of the host that what you are witnessing is not okay. This will create a small distraction at the very least and hopefully change the masterclass artist’s behavior for the moment.
Get your phone out and record the offensive stuff. Perhaps the masterclass artist will wonder why all of a sudden, someone is actively recording them.
If the host does nothing, write them and their institution afterward and keep it for your records. Even if they’re your friend and they get you work and your relationship with them is important to you—yep! Report it anyway. Let your colleagues know about what you observed from the masterclass artist, so they will not be surprised if they invite them in the future, and also let your colleagues know about the host who allowed the class to continue without interruption or protection of the student.
What do you do if you’re a student in the audience and disagree with what is happening?
A lot of this depends on your comfort level. Are you playing next? Are you not playing at all? What if you are not personally offended, but you know the next person is likely to be?
Perhaps if you find something offensive going on onstage and you are not in the direct or incoming line of fire, interrupt and ask the student onstage if they are okay or need anything. Maybe even, “Oh hi friend, you forgot your bottle of water.” Maybe you can have a manufactured coughing fit. Then either leave the room or get your phone out and record—at least from within your pocket.
It is very hard to expect the student onstage with the problematic famous person to act in the moment. But even stopping what is happening for a moment could be helpful to the student onstage. And your departure, even if it is to the bathroom for a couple of minutes, could provide a useful distraction and reset.
Make sure afterward, since masterclasses are for students after all, that you communicate with both the hosting teacher and institution. Let them know what the problem was in writing, and tell them that you will not return to their events unless you hear that they plan to do better in the future.
If you are ignored by the hosting teacher and institution, or given a raft of legalese from a Title IX department in response which does not satisfy you that anyone actually cares to do better, share your videos with the press, instrument societies, instrument sponsors, and online music fora. You might be able to find some safe venues to share this, or someone who will pass it on anonymously for you if you are really scared.
I really welcome and encourage other thoughts on this issue.
Edited to add this comment from Olivier Stankiewicz from his Facebook share of this post.
These are great suggestions -- thank you! I would also note that sometimes a BFM just isn't aware of the impact of his behavior and by never being confronted on it doesn't learn. I was very positively surprised a couple of years ago when at an adult music camp I got up the courage to talk privately to a conductor who was using demeaning comments that were making the musicians very uncomfortable. Not to my surprise, he was unaware of his impact on them, but to my surprise, he changed completely with the next rehearsal and for the rest of the week. So please try to have the courage to address this -- that's the only way it will change.
Hmmm, this famous oboe player appears to be completely comfortable mocking women in front of everyone at this “master class”. It comes from a deep seated belief system that men are superior and women are inferior.
We as artists and students all have to grapple with our inner critical voice that cripples our ability to create beauty. This is a subject worthy of discussion, however he chose to use her gender to mock and demean her. Despicable.