Posted by or... on April 23, 2003 at 15:50:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fort Worth posted by David on April 23, 2003 at 11:01:48:
...have the option to hire whoever the hell you want without an audition, and get on with making music, in most cases with someone who is already a good fit.
Personally, I think the tired old cattle-call process of auditioning for an orchestra job in the US has outlived it's usefulness. Why not allow orchestras to groom people for future openings, and give them the job when they have earned it by subbing and doing a great job. Right now, I can't think of any other highly-skilled profession that lets anyone and everyone who thinks they're entitled to a certain job have a crack at it, and hires someone after watching them "simulate the job" for a grand total of about an hour or two. Changing the "rules" (I say that in quotations because the Cleveland Orchestra is refusing all sorts of people the opportunity to audition for principal trombone, and getting away with it) would sure save a lot of people a lot of time and money. If you want to play in the XYZ Philharmonic, for example, move to XYZ. Go to school there. Stay in town working and getting your name around. Study with the current player. Play extra and sub with the orchestra on occasion. Then, when the current XYZ player retires, they can hire you. What's wrong with that?