The Bjorn Borg Effect

| Jul 11, 2014 |

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 on the court, his clutch play, and of course his wonderful shot making. At the very 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, and so forth. But those two young players shared something in common – they both hit their backhands with both hands on the racquet, and at that time this was extremely unusual. And I remember that before Borg began winning major tournaments there were critics who said he would never do anything major because of that funny backhand of his. Then, among other acheivements, he won five Wimbledons in a row and, well, I guess he answered those critics pretty well.

What is interesting about this is not only that he 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. 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, for example. 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, the Williams sisters, or Sharapova). 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 the past 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. She has been replaced by Karin Bliznik, who is another great player but, alas, Karen is the current IT – she is still the only woman in a principal trumpet position in a major orchestra. 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 very well rounded career, being the top horn soloist from the US, one of its top teachers and a wonderful chamber musician.

But I believe that the Bjorn Borg Effect is beginning because of two European trumpet soloists – 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, more importantly, 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 10-15 year old girls right now who, when they grow up, want to be soloists like Allison Balsom and Tine Thing Helseth. And so I think that it will only be a matter of time before there will be a number of absolutely 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 that, as well as Karin Bliznik plays, she doesn’t get the publicity that Allison Balsom and Tine Thing Helseth do.

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. That would surely seal the deal for me.