Here’s a post that will be of interest both to the casual observer and also the musician who is on the audition circuit. It concerns the “no result” audition – when an audition is held but no one is hired. It’s a very bad situation to be in as an auditioner (especially when you’ve gotten to the finals) and it isn’t great from the committee’s side of the screen, either. National Symphony double bassist Jeffrey Weisner (whom I was at Peabody with, and where he now serves on the faculty) writes an excellent post addressing this situation.
When an orchestra holds a national audition and hears lots of well-trained, talented and motivated players, it can seem completely incomprehensible when they announce that no one has been hired. For students and auditioners, the message they get from this result is usually something along the lines of:
“None of you bassists are good enough! We heard you all and you all stink. No one is worthy to play in our august ensemble. Go away and resume your pitiful lives.”
Not only does this seem insulting to an auditioner, it’s also transparently ridiculous. The people in the finals of any major audition in 2009 are almost always all excellent and talented bassists and musicians. They have worked hard and are eminently qualified to play in an orchestra. For any orchestra to reject all of them as unacceptable would be the height of hubris and absurdity. This is especially true when those very same players later attain success in other auditions!
Read the complete post here.
3 replies on “when orchestras don’t hire”
I just heard that BSO didn’t hire a viola. What? You’re telling me no one was good enough to hold the 5th of the chord or play off-beats? : ) (That was partially Erin’s joke, too.)
Well, the 5th isn’t so tricky – but those 3rds – *shudder* 🙂
Thanks Chas for the link and good review…. I hope all’s well. Every time I’m having bad coffee in the Peabody cafeteria I recall our mutual commiseration sessions there.