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Blind auditions, which exist because of bias to begin with, are seen as bad because sometimes the end result doesn't look good in photos. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/arts/music/blind-auditions-orchestras-race.html
Just so you get an idea of how pervasive this is, this type of controversy goes back decades. Here's the New York Times on this topic from 1989. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/05/us/discordant-notes-in-detroit-music-and-affirmative-action.html
I swear this article could have been written today. None of it makes any sense and the people involved think it's bad, but the tide of political activism and on-paper minority quotas inexorably moves mountains.
Also the NYT article from yesterday is a music CRITIC complaining that musician UNIONS are strong supporters of blind auditions. That's just about all you need to know.
I don't think many people understand the type of dedication and excellence and competitiveness that exist in the professional classical musician world. You can't just not hire the objectively best players and the union knows this too. Blind auditions are the best way.
I think Hilary and Jackie does a good job of showing the line that separates a really good musician from a world class one. It's not strictly about that but I always thought it captured that concept well. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150915/
