James Zimmermann Could Win The Culture War
Since the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra reneged on hiring James Zimmermann, he’s largely kept to himself. A half a decade after working in tech in the aftermath of his controversial dismissal in 2020 from the Nashville Symphony Orchestra for opposing DEI initiatives, he found a job that provided him ample time to spend with his family and for his morning ritual of making bread.
But, since he announced news of his discrimination lawsuit against the KSO Tuesday on X, his story went national, piquing the interest of everyone from Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon to Newsweek.
Like many instances of wokedom, Zimmermann’s story appears as yet another egregious cancellation effort–one conservatives can fume over before moving on to the next injustice. However, Zimmermann’s strategy to hold the KSO accountable differs from stalwart conservative pursuits like boycotts or abolishing national endowments in a way that could revolutionize the Right’s attempts to regain control of cultural institutions: threatening state and local arts funding for Blue dot organizations in overwhelmingly Red states.
“We need to be crusaders for this stuff with the way that the Left is," Zimmermann said. “So that's what we're trying to do in Knoxville. They get $100,000 a year in grant money from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Why should they get that? That's part of what the foundation in DC that took me on is going to do. They're going to be asking our friends in the legislature, ‘Why are you funneling this money into the Knoxville Symphony if they discriminate openly against white conservative guys? Maybe you just should take that $100,000 and spend it on something that doesn't discriminate.’”
Though Zimmermann never set out to become a culture warrior, he knew he had to fight back when his dismissal from the Nashville Symphony upended his 12-year tenure at the orchestra and exiled him from a line of work that he’d trained for his entire life. When a committee accidentally revealed the identity of African-American oboist Titus Underwood after he won a blind audition in 2018, Zimmermann defended the musician, ultimately convincing the orchestra to offer him a permanent position despite past issues with his performance.
Yet, friction erupted between Underwood and his advocate almost immediately and escalated into a sustained HR campaign against Zimmermann that led to his firing.
“I had tried to push against this guy's ideas and say, ‘It’s not what you think it is. It’s not systemic racism that's holding you back. It’s you. You’re your own worst enemy, and you have some growing up to do, young man. So let me help you,’’” Zimmermann said. “I was trying to be like a big brother to him, but he has such a distrust for white men, white people in general, and he had become really good at hiding that. But once I pushed back and he was in control, he just developed this Jussie Smollett-style story and took me out. It was really a good lesson on how people can turn on one another.”
In the leadup to 2020’s summer of love, Zimmermann’s dismissal garnered little press attention beyond an exhaustive feature story in the Washington Free Beacon. Though Zimmermann eventually came to terms with his situation and new career in Big Tech, he never gave up on recovering control of his dream, practicing everyday and applying for positions to rejoin a reputable orchestra. That’s what led him to Knoxville last fall and his thwarted comeback after a search committee unanimously endorsed him during a blind audition.
“The guy who was running the audition and his wife who served as the proctor on stage, they were like, ‘He’s awesome. We really like him.’ “So what happened after that? I suspect somebody who hates me, of which I have many of those people, called them up and said, ‘You do not want to hire this guy. Look at this tweet. Look at that podcast that he went on. Look at his email that he wrote.’’’
On September 18th, KSO CEO Rachel Ford sent Zimmermann an email notifying him that his history had cost him the job. Instead, the orchestra offered the position to a non-white musician who is still in college. Knoxville NBC-affiliate WBIR reported that Nashville Symphony CEO Alan Valentine had confirmed the authenticity of two restraining orders taken out against Zimmermann by those involved in the 2020 DEI controversy. Whether Valentine inserted himself into the hiring process or Ford contacted him is not yet clear.
“That's what lawsuits are for: to discover what really went down,” Zimmermann said.
Since his story went viral on Tuesday, Zimmermann has received support from several prominent Trump officials, including Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, who tweeted that she had questions for the KSO and Ms. Ford shortly after news of the story broke.
While Zimmermann appreciates the support of those with national prominence, he also expressed the belief that local accountability of community arts organizations is an often overlooked strategy at a time when the Trump administration's denial of federal funds for left-leaning arts projects continues to grab headlines. Such is especially true in a Red state like Tennessee, which is primed to elect either Marsha Blackburn or John Rose–both seasoned culture warriors–as governor later this year.
“Hopefully we can make a big enough splash here that conservatives won't have to waste all of their money suing everybody into the ground,” Zimmermann said. “Maybe it sends a big, broad message. These people who are kind of wishy-washy running these institutions say, ‘Maybe we should just stop soft discrimination against whites for grants’…they haven't given the grant to a white man in 10 years. Like, maybe we want to look into our processes and make sure there's no bias in the way that orchestras do with blind auditions.”
While Zimmermann’s lawsuit will eventually come to an end, he plans to continue his quest of making the arts accessible and appealing to everyone. “I have to just remind myself that I don't do this for fame or money. I do it for the music itself. I do it so that the art form doesn't die because I believe that every artist has a responsibility to the art form itself so it doesn't go extinct. That's what I'm focused on.”
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra could not be reached for comment.