Latest Women-Shouldn’t-Be-Conductors Gaffe Comes From Legendary Conducting Teacher

Jorma Panula, the now-83-year-old professor who trained a flock of talented maestros that includes Esa-Pekka Salonen, Osmo Vänskä, Sakari Oramo, and (ahem) Susanna Mälkki, told a Finnish news broadcaster, “They can come [to my masterclasses] and try. It’s not a problem – if they … take more feminine music. Bruckner or Stravinsky will not do, but Debussy is OK. This is a purely biological question.”