![]() But the resulting conversations, in their view, hinged more on Fletcher’s defense of the festival’s programming decisions than it did in critical conversations around the show’s treatment of race.Īspen has spent the past three months issuing public statements about their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. These students continued to speak out, engaging in cautious dialogue with Alan Fletcher, the President and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Julio and a handful of fellow students felt that without historical context about the show’s World War II-era anti-Japanese sentiment and garden-variety racism, the festival had failed in their educational obligations. Julio described a recorded message from a private teacher as “political pressure.” They felt that it “drew an isolating line because it showed us that if we stood behind there would be repercussions with our relationship to our private teachers.” (In a statement to VAN, Jennifer White, the Vice President and Dean of Students at Aspen, wrote that Aspen was “not aware of a private phone conversation between a teacher and student.”) ![]() They believed that students who were speaking out against the production were being labelled as “problems”-they didn’t know how this might affect their career. But then they heard the private teacher’s message. (Julio is the only student interviewed by VAN who did not request anonymity out of fear of professional retaliation.) Julio had contemplated speaking to festival administrators about their concerns. Jay Julio was another student at the festival involved in this production. This was the last time he would feel comfortable discussing his concerns with this festival. “It felt like an insurmountable wall suddenly appeared in front of me,” he said. ![]() He described feeling as though a boundary had been crossed when he received this message from his teacher. This student asked to remain anonymous for fear of professional retribution. “You need to apologize,” said the teacher, “for the sake of your career.” Shortly afterward, he received a message from his private teacher. He alleges that they did not respond positively to this conversation. It was so offensive to one student in the orchestra that he decided to approach festival administrators with his concerns. In July 2019, the Aspen Music Festival and School staged a concert production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.” This was a performance of the show’s 2006 revised concert score, a score that had preserved Pacific Islander stereotypes and an anti-Japanese racial slur.
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