Orchestra Auditions Nowadays: Say What?

Nowadays?

Nowadays?

Has this not always been the case during the modern orchestra era, which a colleague once described as being a.c.-"after committees" (as compared to b.c.- "before committees")? While the final results of auditions have usually been based on those intangible musical qualities that define individual musicians, have not the basic fundamentals of musicianship* always existed as important criteria, indeed implied prerequisites** for orchestra membership? Such questions inevitably lead one to wonder how young music students ever came to accept the notion things are, or should be different today, when compared to the practices of times past, or, as a distinguished midwestern colleague, who shall remain nameless, once asked members of the audience at a seminar on the subject of auditions, "who's teaching them this sh*t?"

Over the years, I have read and heard myriad comments concerning the realities of orchestra audition and employment practices made by leading musicians in that little segment of the music world, far too many in number to include here as specific, attributable Quotables; so, I have "composed" the following paragraph that reduces those myriad points to a few sentences:

Orchestra auditions are not solo contests. They are (sometimes inadequate) procedures undertaken in the interest of finding the most qualified musicians for specific positions in specific ensembles. As a consequence, there could be instances when the “best” players, or those who have played the best auditions (when judged within the context of more generalized artistic and technical standards) might not represent the most appropriate choices for the positions for which they have auditioned and, as a result, would not be the "winning" candidates. (One of the most difficult concepts to convey to students is that music directors and orchestra audition committees, functioning jointly but not always as equals (with the music directors rendering final decisions) in the role of prospective employers, ultimately determine which musicians are engaged by their respective organizations, and these decisions are invariably based on their perceptions of the needs and musical preferences*** of their orchestras. )

Orchestras do not exist for the care and feeding of musicians, nor do they exist as vehicles for the expression of the musical concepts, philosophical ideals, or the promotion of the careers of their individual musician members. They exist for the presentation of (mainly) orchestral music.

Commentary: If it is indeed an established fact that trumpet students from specific schools or of particular teachers in the U.S. are consistently winning orchestra auditions nowadays, then rather than complaining about it, perhaps those trumpeters who aspire to orchestra careers would be best advised to attend those schools and/or study with those teachers with histories of successfully placing their students in professional orchestras. Interestingly enough, while the concept of tailoring one's training to address specific career goals is a time-honored educational philosophy common to many professions, there are, nevertheless, some music students and teachers who are unwilling to accept the concept. During one of my master-classes (ca. late 1980s), an extremely gifted twenty-seven year old trumpeter scoffed at this concept in full view of the entire class, insisting that I was incorrect in what he inaccurately perceived to be solely my opinion, asserting that he somehow "knew," without identifying any source(s) for such knowledge, that the only thing that really mattered in auditions was to play better than everyone else (he failed to mention anything about the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus). I asked him, also in front of the entire assemblage, how many auditions had he played, and he answered, "eleven." I asked him if he truly believed he had played the best audition on any of those occasions, and he replied in the affirmative. I then asked him how many of those auditions had he won, and he answered,"none." As our anonymous outspoken performer/professor (para. 2, above) asked, as a continuing part of his rant during the seminar on that day: "How many auditions do these [expletive deleted] have to lose before they 'get it' ?"

Update: Several colleagues familiar with the inner workings of (American) symphony orchestra audition practices have criticized the fact the subject of “rhetorical auditions” was not mentioned in the above post. Rhetorical auditions, by definition, are auditions in name only, those where there is no intention, or very little possibility of the sponsoring organizations appointing any of the participating candidates to the position for which the audition is held. Indeed, the term itself is a transliteration of the “rhetorical search” language sometimes used in academic institutions or business organizations when certain hiring processes are executed solely to satisfy the provisions of management-union collective bargaining agreements, applicable institutional protocols, or prevailing civil employment statutes, many of which, ironically enough, have been promulgated to insure open and fair employment practices. The rationale for such auditions is to initially comply with such legal requirements and then to proceed with other types of hiring protocols (auditions for specific candidates appearing by special invitation or performing with the orchestra, etc.) There are valid arguments to be made both for and against such audition practices, but these are never openly discussed because such "(non) events" always occur in an atmosphere providing sufficient “plausible deniability” to question their very existence. Ergo, one cannot discuss something that doesn't exist.

* As defined in 1947 by Paul Hindemith: ..."the correct notes in the right place, at the proper strength, with good intonation..." (and in the appropriate musical style-ed.)

** especially during the preliminary rounds of auditions

*** There is a growing consensus of opinion among musicians that orchestras today are sounding generic, and that the technical, musical, and in some instances, nationalistic characteristics that once so clearly defined individual orchestras have largely disappeared; however, there remain enough differences among them that can and do affect audition outcomes.