‘Got Woke?’ Tennessee Orchestra Accused Of Targeting Musician Over Defiant Stance Against DEI

“Got Woke? Knoxville Symphony does.” 

That message will be emblazoned on a mobile billboard and greet attendees of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra as they arrive for a romantic date night featuring Valentine’s Day-themed music on Thursday and Friday. 

The mobile billboard seeks to spotlight a renowned clarinet player’s fight to remove DEI from the world of professional music and arrives courtesy of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a conservative nonprofit. James Zimmermann, the clarinetist, filed a lawsuit in December, accusing the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra of refusing to hire him based on his opposition to DEI. 

Zimmermann told The Daily Wire he won a blind audition for the principal clarinet position in September 2025 and was told by staff he would soon be on salary, only to have that opportunity fall away a few days later once the orchestra learned of his previous DEI battle with the orchestra in Nashville. 

“This whole scenario is much bigger than just me and this one little job in Knoxville.
It’s the demoralization that every white guy feels that, ‘Hey, these orchestras don’t want me.’ They have openly stated, ‘We need our orchestras to be more diverse.’ All that means is they want fewer white guys in the orchestra. It’s very obvious,” Zimmermann told The Daily Wire. 

Images shared with The Daily Wire by the Coolidge Reagan Foundation show the multiple messages that will appear on mobile billboard vehicles outside the Tennessee Theater from 3-11 p.m. On both days, the orchestra is performing a concert called “Star-Crossed Lovers” at 7:30 p.m.

The images include statements such as “DEI ≠ Fairness,” “Go Woke, Lose Talent,” and “Your Tax Dollars Fuel Woke DEI Polices at the Orchestra.” The Coolidge Reagan Foundation also launched a website to highlight Zimmermann’s story. 

Coolidge Reagan Foundation.

According to a lawsuit filed by Zimmermann in Tennessee’s Sixth Judicial Circuit, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra refused to hire him based on his politics. Zimmermann is suing for compensation he would have earned had he been given the job. 

“The Orchestra engaged in racial discrimination against Mr. Zimmermann, violating the results of its own screened audition, in violation of the Tennessee Human Rights Act,” a copy of the lawsuit shared with The Daily Wire said. “Had Zimmermann not been a white male, particularly a white male who had previously expressed opposition to DEI initiatives, the Orchestra would have proceeded with hiring him consistent with the result of its screened auditions.”

Coolidge Reagan Foundation.

After advancing through the screened audition process for the clarinet position, Zimmermann said Knoxville Symphony Orchestra personnel manager Mark Tucker informed him he had won, would soon be “on the payroll,” and would call him to follow up on September 17, 2025.

Instead, on September 18, Zimmermann says he received a phone call from the symphony’s CEO, Rachel Ford, who asked him about his previous musical job working for the Nashville Symphony. 

An email from Ford to Zimmermann, obtained by The Daily Wire, confirmed Zimmermann’s account. 

Ford told him in the email that “based on a number of items which have come to the attention of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra regarding your employment with the Nashville Symphony, I regret to inform you that the [Knoxville Symphony Orchestra] has decided not to move forward with offering you a contract of employment.”

She added that there would be no further discussions on the matter. 

“We wish you the best in the future. Please know our decision is final and we will not participate in any ongoing communications related to this matter,” she wrote. 

Neither Ford nor Tucker responded to requests for comment. 

The controversy referred to by Ford erupted roughly six years ago when Zimmermann started speaking out against DEI measures at the Nashville Symphony. Eventually, he was fired after two minority musicians, oboe player Titus Underwood and Emilio Carlo, accused him of harassing them and making threatening and racially charged comments to them.

In the end, Zimmermann was fired after 12 years as the lead clarinet player. Six of his colleagues would later defend him in interviews with the Washington Free Beacon. Zimmermann acknowledges that he was not perfect throughout the situation, but said his firing was prompted, in large part, by politics. 

As that played out, both Underwood and Carlo got a Davidson County judge to issue temporary restraining orders against Zimmermann. Zimmermann has called those restraining orders “bogus” and noted that they were not later renewed.

Carlo and Underwood did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement to local outlet WBIR, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra cited the restraining orders. 

“The KSO made the decision to reject the Audition Committee’s recommendation and not hire Mr. Zimmermann due to legitimate safety concerns as confirmed by the Nashville Symphony,” the statement said. 

Ford brought up those restraining orders during her call with Zimmermann, who said he was never given a chance to explain his side of the story. 

“I have nothing bad to say about the people running the [audition]. It’s just about the CEO, who made the decision to not hire me, not ask me anything about the past, not ask my side of the story,” Zimmermann told The Daily Wire. “This is supposed to be the land of opportunity, and a blind audition gives you a chance to prove your skills, independent of your political views and race and gender and sex and all that.”

Zimmermann says he has heard from musicians all across the country who agree with him and have told him they hope the orchestra world abandons DEI once and for all.

Dan Backer, the president of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, is a counsel for Zimmermann during the suit. 

“I’m just glad Coolidge Reagan is able to be there and keep the pressure on and make sure that everybody knows that when you set foot in Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, you’re not listening to the best music you could get, you’re listening to the wokest music you can get.”

On its website, the Knoxville Symphony boasts that its programming emphasizes “music by living composers” and “artists from underrepresented groups.”

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra receives local and state taxpayer funding through the city of Knoxville, Knox County, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. It is unclear exactly how much the orchestra gets in grants. 

Neither the Nashville nor the Knoxville symphony orchestras responded to requests for comment.