Discussion Panel: Page 41

First, I would like to thank Drew for asking me to participate in this discussion. When I think back to studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, I remember wondering if I could just win an audition. Scarey thought since I knew great players that hadn’t won an audition. That made me a little […]

Q. Which issues give/gave you the greatest concern as you enter(ed) the audition circuit? A. I’d have to say general preparedness. Of course we all think of hours and hours spent in the practice room playing the excerpts over and over again – and in these terms, I feel like I have the tools to […]

When I first entered the audition circuit I didn’t spend much time thinking about important issues like the future of classical music, the ratio of highly qualified candidates to orchestra jobs, or even how much money I would earn as a professional musician. My only focus was winning a job and I spent hours in […]

The most disheartening aspect about entering the audition circuit is the large number of auditionees. With 50-150 musicians auditioning for one opening, the number of “losers” is staggering. Furthermore, with a limited amount of time, it is impossible for the auditioning committee to give enough attention to each candidate. The goal then becomes eliminating all […]

When I consider the expectations I had versus the reality of preparing for, winning, and maintaining a position in my orchestra, much of what I had anticipated in the audition process turned out to be true, but almost everything I had imagined about maintaining and functioning in my position was wrong. As I described in […]

According to statistics gathered by many professional orchestras, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to win a position in a professional American orchestra. In order to provide as broad a view as possible on this subject, we’ve assembled eight panelists representing a wide range of contact points along the road to preparing for, winning, and maintaining a […]

Comment on Nathan’s comment: Thank you for your comments and your kind words, Nathan. My use if the term “tactic” wasn’t meant to in any way suggest that how we have conducted negotiations in Dayton has been flawed. As you point out, your job is to represent the musicians and the local to the best […]

First of all, I am sorry for my absence from this discussion to date. Last Thursday, I had an unfortunate incident involving a sidewalk. The result (among other things) was a broken bone in the little finger in my left hand. (I have started a blog to track my hoped-for recovery from this unplanned collision […]

Dear Virtual Panel Participants and Observers, Inasmuch as this is the final day of posting, I have tried to digest all that has been written, and come to some final thoughts. I must say that I do find this exchange valuable, and look forward to future discussion. As I read the original question, it did […]

A rousing “Amen” to Laura’s last post. I cannot write anything which could add to that eloquence (including the observation about driving good people from the field, which is appreciated), so I will thank fellow participants for a most interesting week and get back to making the world safe for music.