Discussion Panel: Page 21

If any young American musicians are thinking of going to work in an orchestra in a foreign country for a few years, my advice would be to go for it! Go with an open mind, be flexible and prepared to adapt a little to your host culture, and you’ll have a wonderful experience.

I guess my advice to any young American contemplating doing what I did would be very specific, as the sheer distance to Australia makes it unique among most major orchestral jobs. There are only 2 ways to move out there: 1) do not give it any thought at all and just do it, letting things […]

My advice to a young musician considering working over here would be to keep an open mind, be flexible and work hard. For me, life here has generally worked out well. I consider myself fortunate to be here. In retrospect, I believe that I happened to be in the right place at the right time. […]

The only thing I’d like to ask all of you to address for the last day is what advice you might have for a young American musician thinking about doing what you did.

As an ex-ex-patriate, I’m not sure that I have a lot to contribute today. Robert is right: I did play ice hockey in London, Ont. I used to think I was quite a good skater, but oh dear! – some of those Canadians were skating before they could walk, and I would be left standing […]

Living in Britain is not too far removed from life in the US. I find that orchestra life is so similar and I feel very accepted here. Though I lived in the States for many years, I am British so perhaps I’m not the best person to judge. I travel back to the States regularly […]

Like Philip, after 23 years in Europe, I’m pretty well integrated, so I’m trying to remember how it felt to be “fresh off the boat”. I think how you tackle being American in a foreign orchestra has alot to do with what kind of person you are to begin with. I have always wanted to […]

The question “what it is like being an American in my orchestra” is one which really gets the wheels turning . I feel I am well integrated into life in the Orchestra as well as here in Germany. Fluent in the language, I have no problems of comprehension, however my accent gives me away as […]

For Day 4, I’ve asked the panelist to address the following questions: What’s it like being an American in your orchestra? Are there language issues (and if so, how did you deal with them?) Do ex-pats socialize with the majority group? Are there issues in rehearsals related to language? (When I was in London Ontario, […]

1) Livelihood. The NZSO provides a reasonable living for players, even on one salary. Of course if you have a partner who works as well, you can be quite well off. Everyone is able to afford a reasonable instrument, buy their own home, take holidays, etc. Wellington is a compact city, so commuting is not […]