Discussion Panel: Page 25

In addition to being a Hispanic of Mexican descent, I happen to live and work in San Antonio, a city that is 60% Hispanic. Mexican culture is a major part of the city’s identity and I would be surprised if any American orchestra has spent more resources and made greater effort in reaching out to […]

Artists are often perceived as outside the national economic and political discourse. They live in the realms of personal expression, beauty, and transcendence where excellence is treasured through the world and for the ages. This dream-like vista is balanced with the realistic need of a living wage, benefits, and job security to sustain this personal […]

Diversity in the symphony orchestra means a lot of different things depending upon where you are. In Vienna it means finally allowing women to hold full positions in the 21st century, a situation that was corrected in the US quite a while ago with the advent of behind-screen auditions. In the US in the early […]

I would like to thank the other panelists, as Robert has done already, for their thoughtful and thought-provoking comments. I am sorry to see our week come to a close, not only because I have found it to be an exceedingly interesting undertaking, but also because the subject which I view as the most important […]

For this final day the moderator asks for reactions to the following statement: “An orchestra audition consisting of a movement from a concerto and excerpts is sufficient to select the “best” person for the job”. I have seen too many successful outcomes of just such auditions to disagree with this statement – although it is […]

Robert wrote: “I hope no one will reply that most auditions aren’t done that way, as most auditions in the US and Canada are done that way.” I disagree. In my years sitting on audition committees we would listen to a (by example, section viola auditions-sorry, Robert) finalist perform in a Mozart quartet, and I […]

Some Day 4.5 thoughts… On orchestra ownership of vacancies: I second Rip’s fascination with the concept. There seems to be a subtext that in the US, the vacancy actually belongs to the Music Director, and the audition committee (and, by extension the orchestra) is only along for the ride – narrowing down the field of […]

I smile when I am asked the one million dollar question, “is our audition process fine the way it is”? I have learned to live with this process; it is a challenge that I have become accustomed to as a person who has taken her share of auditions. Still, it is impossible to say “yes” […]

I would like to thank the panelists for their thoughtful, intelligent, and well-written contributions. I think we may have succeeded in shedding more light than heat – not something that often happens in this business. I have two questions for all the panelists to wrap up this panel. The first is for them all to […]

The most important aspect of the tenure process for me is the hiring process. Take enough time and care during the audition process, don’t allow yourself to be rushed into making a quick decision, be really excited about your final choice, and tenure-granting will most likely never be a problem, no matter what system you […]