How transition costs us our talents

[Shana A]

Tue Feb 05, 2013 at 04:00 PM PST
How transition costs us our talents

by rserven

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/05/1184787/-How-transition-costs-us-our-talents

Concert pianist Sara Davis Buechner penned a touching story in the New York times on Sunday, which appeared online on Monday morning.  The article recalls the trials and tribulations she has endured since she transitioned in 2003.

2003 is the year that she had a botched surgery in Thailand and marked the 5th year since she had played as a soloist with an American orchestra.  It is also the year that she was hired as a professor of piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Dr. Davis has a B.Mus. and M.Mus. from Julliard and a D.M.A. from Manhattan College).

    But when I crossed the border to Canada, I found plenty of orchestras and recital presenters who were happy to book me.  The success of my performing career in Canada has helped me rebuild a reputation back home.  I've played twice now with the San Francisco Symphony, and also with the orchestras of Buffalo, Dayton, Seattle and others.  I am confident I will once again play with the elite groups in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York, earning the same good reviews that David Buechner once did.  A new generation of conductors, composers, chamber players and music executives has come of age, and they don't ignore my agent's calls as their older colleagues once did.

Sara's story is not unique in that regard.  In her case apparently people have thought she no longer had the piano skills that David Buechner once had.  I was intensely upset myself to learn people we reporting I had lost my ability to teach when I transitioned.  All too often we have to reprove ourselves from scratch after transitioning.

[gennee]

Sara's talents are still there. It's people own narrow perceptions that are flawed. Sadly, people get them by the way someone looks, where they came from, etc. Sara hasn't lost anything.    

[Dawn Heart]

Having worked in the entertainment world since I was young, then leaving and coming back in 2007, I have learned that Hollywood is a different world than what people see on TV. I use the word and reference to "Hollywood" loosely because Hollywood isn't just that once glamorous place in California anymore. Hollywood is wherever you find your fan base / following. The world of modern electronic communications, computers and software has helped entertainers from across the different genres of the business to build and even re-build their careers.

In the coming months and years, as my appearance and name come to change, I will have to go through the process that Sarah Buechner is going through. This is the age old story of re-inventing oneself in the public eye, but only becoming who one truly is in every sense otherwise behind closed doors. I can't tell you how much of a love/hate relationship there is between us artists and the industry as the sort of machine it is.

Sarah has definitely had to be pretty crafty about re-invention of herself as an artist on the major classical music circuit, presenting herself, and being marketable. The key to this that she mentions is her agent being so good and the changing tide from the old guard to a younger and more open minded bunch of people. Sarah is truly someone to admire for her tenacious spirit! 

[Elspeth]

Very poor title choice, as gennee pointed out. Almost certainly her talents did not change, and that was demonstrated repeatedly in the original essay itself.

[Bexi]

Sara's talents are still there. It's people own narrow perceptions that are flawed. Sadly, people get them by the way someone looks, where they came from, etc. Sara hasn't lost anything.    

Couldn't agree more. The transition didn't hamper her talents - the outdated phobia/discrimination of those in control stopped her from fulfilling a role that her skills merited.

[tomthom]

I just hope that transitioning while in college and going into the entertainment arts industry (concept art, set design, etc.) won't totally reduce all my chances for internships and job offers. I mean I know it's more porgressive than most industries and it's almost a strictly portfolio based hiring process, but still. the fear lingers.