Composer Undercover
It’s a bit surprising, but I won’t have had my first experience submitting a pseudonymous score (now in preparation) until July. All of a sudden I need a fake name. How to deal with this bizarre situation?
I’ve been advised to stick with a conventionally alphabetical name even if identifying symbols are allowed: No one wants to input a squiggly line surrounded by bunch of astrological glyphs into an Excel spreadsheet. But I’ve been using my own conventionally alphabetical name for twenty-seven years, and I’ve never considered that I might have to go by a nom de plume. What ramifications might this seemingly inconsequential choice have on my fortunes with the reviewers of my score?
“What kind of composer,” I can hear them muse, “would choose this kind of pseudonym?” What ideological position does he seek? Has he chosen a real someone’s real name, a fabricated name, a ridiculously implausible name? What does it mean? Maybe they won’t examine it at all—maybe the content will be so laughable to them that the presentation goes unexamined. But if I happen to make it to a short list, maybe factors like these will come into play. Consider what unconscious effects the following pseudonyms, generated at random from census data, might have on a panel of judges:
- Tim Hollobaugh
- Kristy Lemmons
- Frankie Bomba
- Georgia Ong
- Rolanda Simmons
- Horatio Allenbrand
The judges know that “Kristy Lemmons” is not really Kristy Lemmons—but what advantage does the applicant think can be gained by calling himself or herself “Kristy Lemmons”? If you saw a score with “Kristy Lemmons” on top, would you assume that the composer is female just because the pseudonym seems to imply as much? Tim strikes me as a white male, but what about Georgia and Rolanda? Will Frankie break our legs if we don’t give him the prize? Did Horatio write this piece in a smoking jacket and ascot?
Each one of these names is a demographical rabbit hole, and while I doubt that the judges will leap enthusiastically into all such rabbit holes they encounter, I’m certain that the pseudonyms they see will exert some influence over their perceptions of the music. Can anyone who’s been on the other side of those locked doors clue me in—what becomes of those pseudonyms?