A musician who filed a lawsuit after he says he was passed over for a position with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra says he wasn’t surprised by the snub.
James Zimmermann filed his lawsuit last month in Knox County Circuit Court against KSO after he says he was told he had earned the position in a blind audition only to later be notified he wasn’t getting the position because of his previous actions with the Nashville Symphony when he says he was “canceled” for resisting DEI policies.
“It was a blow but not entirely unsurprising,” Zimmermann told Legal Newsline. “I’d assumed they knew who I was and about my backstory when they invited me to the audition, I suppose it’s my fault for assuming they’d done the necessary digging.”
In Nashville, Zimmermann stood up for merit-based hiring at the symphony despite calls to diversify the orchestra.
“There are multiple ways to view what happened to me in Nashville, and it wasn’t totally unreasonable to assume they’d stand behind me and be grateful to get a seasoned player like me in their ensemble,” Zimmermann said of the KSO. “But it’s understandable they’d rather avoid the controversy. I wonder how they feel about that now?”
Zimmermann called the situation in Nashville “outlandish … with Jussie Smollett-level scandals” and “botched blind auditions and career annihilation that spills over into civil court.”
While he said that isn’t common, he said it is common for orchestras to commit themselves to DEI via changing the rules of auditions to make them more favorable to minorities, hiring minorities via diversity fellowships – which he says end up replacing salaried positions – and going “all-in on DEI messaging.”
“I suspect most orchestras are just appeasing ‘the current thing,’ but when you get a few true believers in an orchestra like Nashville had, it can sink the entire ship,” Zimmermann said. “Never underestimate the long-term effects of teaching young minorities that the world hates them, the deck is stacked against them and the only way to succeed is by overthrowing the system.”
Zimmermann said he doesn’t know of any other musicians who have filed lawsuits similar to his.
“Most players don’t have what it takes to stand up to power, and they don’t want to go through the agony of career annihilation and social death,” he said. “It’s not for the faint of heart.
“I’d rather not have to do it myself, but I have a case that moves the needle, so I feel obligated to do it.”
Zimmermann said he hopes his lawsuit has a long-lasting effect.
“I’m hoping to turn the tide against the weaponization of institutions like orchestras for the furthering of a bogus equality agenda,” he said. “Functioning societies are hierarchical and not everybody is the same, so we need a system that lets the cream rise to the top.”
With Knoxville, Zimmermann scored highest in the blind auditions, only to have the position given to “an obvious DEI hire who’s still in college.” His lawsuit says the orchestra instead offered the position of Principal Clarinet “to a person of Asian descent who had not performed as well as Mr. Zimmermann during the screened auditions.”
“Blind auditions are a good way of doing business in orchestras,” Zimmermann told Legal Newsline. “I’m highly in favor of them.
“Having now had the opportunity to explain the process to massive media personalities like Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon, we are getting light on the larger issue of merit in music, how it is determined, and how far the opposers of meritocracy to go grind our orchestras to dust in service of DEI.”
And, Zimmermann says he’s eager to take up the fight for others in similar situations and for music in general.
“What happened to me is a tragedy, but the larger tragedy is the continued capture and control of large arts institutions by Leftists and cowards,” he said. “I hope my lawsuit makes future employers hesitant to exclude players based on obviously bogus lies and political opinions. The artform itself is the real loser.”
Knox Circuit Court case number C-25-341125
