Regular readers know that musician dress codes are a well-worn topic here at Adaptistration. The latest installment was from last month where I wondered when I could use more than one hand to count the number of professional ICSOM, IGSOBM, or ROPA orchestras to remove tuxedoes as their primary attire.
I’m happy to say we’re one finger closer to that goal thanks to the first Big Eight orchestra to replace tuxedos with black suit, shirt, and tie. The Philadelphia Orchestra has replaced white tie and tails with a new dress code and Peter Dobrin examines the details in an article published in the 10/5/21 Philadelphia Inquirer.
Dobrin includes a broad perspective of views, including one from Philly violinist Boris Balter who doesn’t see a connection between the change in attire and ticket sales.
[Balter] finds it “difficult to see how monochromatically casual attire would result in increased attendance and revenue. In my mind, this is another willful attempt to remove what is so unique in this distinctive art form,” he said.
I’m willing to bet money most musicians, like Balter, aren’t familiar with the tuxedo’s history (you can learn about that history in this article from violinist Holly Mulcahy). If so, they may start to think there’s even less reasons why orchestras should continue to hook their attire wagon to that long-faded star.
I also found the statement from a Philly Orchestra spokesperson about not knowing exactly when white tie and tails became commonplace fascinating. Given that tuxedos started to enter mainstream fashion at opera and orchestra events right around the time some of the oldest US orchestras were becoming a thing, I’m curious to know if there are any records confirming when white tie and tails were adopted as part of the on-stage dress code.
I’ve reached out to some archivist friends and will report back if anything turns up. In the meantime, what do you think about Philly’s decision?
I guess no one looked at “The Philadelphia Orchestra A Century of Music.” In that book, what might be called the predecessor to The Philadelphia Orchestra, an 1899 photo of The Symphony Society of the Academy of Music shows the orchestra, on stage at the Academy in white tie and tails. A 1900 photograph of The Philadelphia Orchestra at Woodside Park (an amusement park located in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park) shows Fritz Scheel and the Orchestra in what looks like wing collars, black ties, and either tuxedos or tails. In the book is a photograph from the 1916 performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony all squeezed onto the stage at the Academy of Music. In this case, the musicians appear to be dark business suits, with white shirts(some wing collars, some round, others more standard like collars) and a mixture of neck ties: from long ties, to bow ties, and a few other options. At Stokowski dot org, there is a 1925 photograph of the orchestra in full white tie and tails. There is the also the photograph of Stokowski on a circular Art Deco podium with the orchestra appearing in tail jackets, but either black and gray pants (so it may be a morning suit variation). By 1937’s “One Hundred Men and a Girl” the orchestra is shown in full white tie and tails (while The Philadelphia Orchestra played the soundtrack, actors (or musician – actors) were portrayed in the movie.
At their opening concert, SFS men were wearing black jackets and button down shirts (neither matching), black ties were optional. I wasn’t there ( sore back) but saw the photos. No press release about this.
The NY Phil has also ditched the white tie and tails combo.
Hi Michael, good to know and are you aware if it is a CBA level change?
Although not ICSOM, the Harrisburg Symphony, a ROPA orchestra, has also replaced tails with all black (suits, shirts, ties). So far, no pushback at all. The orchestra seems to be delighted with the change and the audience did not seem to care at all.