The Bjorn Borg Effect

The Bjorn Borg Effect

I began playing tennis right around the time Bjorn Borg burst onto the tennis scene, and as his career developed in to one of the great tennis careers of all time I loved to watch him play – his cool demeanor, his clutch performances, and of course his wonderful shotmaking. At the beginning of his career he was dominated by a slightly older player by the name of Jimmy Connors, who was the exact opposite of Borg – brash and volatile, he would charge the net, whereas Borg played a baseline game. But those two players shared something in common: they hit their backhands with two hands, at that time a technique that was extremely unusual. I remember that before Borg began winning major tournaments, there were critics who said he would never win anything major because of that funny backhand of his. Then, among other achievements, he won five Wimbledons in a row. So I guess he answered his critics pretty well.

What was interesting was not only that Borg had a great career using a backhand that was somewhat revolutionary for the time, but that he also had a profound effect on the game in Sweden and throughout the world. Sweden was never known as a great tennis country, yet after an incubation period of a few years, other Swedish players began winning championships, people such as Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander. And it is just as common these days to see a player hit a two-handed backhand as a one-handed backhand (think of Nadal, Djokovich, or the Williams sisters). So for the sake of argument let’s call this the Bjorn Borg Effect.

I believe that we are now just at the beginning of a Bjorn Borg Effect in brass playing, using mainly the trumpet as an example, but this effect doesn’t have anything to do with playing technique. Rather, it has to do with gender.

For four decades, Sue Slaughter was principal trumpet with the St. Louis Symphony, a major orchestra in America, and was regarded as an essential part of the orchestra’s sound. Unfortunately she was IT – the only woman to hold a principal trumpet position in a major orchestra in America. She was replaced by Karin Bliznik, another great player but, alas, also the only woman principal trumpet player in a major orchestra. But of course there are exceptions. The Philadelphia Orchestra is unique in that two of its four principal brass players are women – hornist Jennifer Montone and tubist Carol Jantsch. And Gail Williams, who for many years was the associate principal horn of the Chicago Symphony, left the orchestra for a great and well-rounded career, being the top horn soloist in the US, one of its top teachers, and a wonderful chamber musician.

But I believe that the Bjorn Borg Effect is now beginning in ernest because of two European trumpet players who broke through will stellar solo careers: Allison Balsom of England and Tine Thing Helseth of Norway. What these two players have in common is that they are, of course, top level soloists. But what they also have in common is branding; they are both women who make playing the trumpet seem glamorous and exciting, and they are both stars. My belief is that because of their branding and stardom, there are a number of ten- to fifteen-year-old girls right now who, when they grow up, will want to be soloists like Allison Balsom, Tine Thing Helseth, and Selina Ott, a newcomer to the scene. And so I think that it will only be a matter of time before there will be a number of top-level women soloists on all brass instruments. It could be, however, that it will take longer for a number of women to become principal trumpet players in orchestras, although I do believe it will happen eventually. It’s just a matter of time. And also consider that there are women players like Imogen Whitehead in England who currently combine orchestral playing with solo appearances.

But this will happen, and I think it will be a huge step forward for the music business. So I guess the question is when will we know that progress has truly been made? For me, it is this: I would love to hear that someday in the future a woman has been appointed principal trumpet of the Vienna Philharmonic, which until recently totally a male dominated orchestra. That would surely seal the deal for me.