Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Colorado anyone??


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Posted by D.C. on September 12, 2001 at 18:43:16:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Colorado anyone?? posted by Matt G on September 12, 2001 at 11:39:49:

Sounds like good justification but if the job is really not open, but rather just complying with union rules, why not say so? Is it too much to ask?

There were players who spent hundreds or thousands of dollars to get to the audition, from all across the United States and Europe. Is it fair to them to find out after the fact that they were just justification to comply with union rules?

No, I still believe this goes to an ethical point of view. No matter how much a committee justifies doing an audition this way, it is still not ethical or honest.

In my opinion, this takes away from the quality of the players getting the orchestral jobs. This only serves to tell young players that being the "best" player is not the way to get a position.

You can use the following jobs as examples of an audition not held on the up and up: Chicago - 2 auditions produced no real winner with the second audition having a pre-preliminary round where only Rex Martin was advanced to the finals but he ultimately was denied the job as well; Houston years ago - several auditions held after Warren Deck left - no clear winner until David Kirk chosen; Pittsburgh - sight reading that only one candidate would know; Utah - similar to the Colorado audition; Los Angeles - similar to the Colorado audition; and the list can go on and on.

In fact, the best players are probably the free lancers in any city. They have to play in an orchestral setting one day, maybe a brass quintet doing jazz, pop, and classical literature the same day, a german band, or a dixieland gig all in the course of a week. They know all the styles and can do them at the drop of a hat. If you ask me, those are the players who should be getting all the credit and not the "orchestral" guys. The free lancers don't get the credit because they don't make the big bucks nor do they get the free publicity.

So the question still is, "Is there a fair audition available to anyone and if so, are the committees willing to stand up and make it clear to all concerned that no one has an edge in getting a job?"



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