interesting thought no. 3

These days it seems more times than not, an orchestra won't pick anyone after an audition. This has happened to me personally at least five times. This is very annoying since taking an audition is not only a costly endeavor, but also a tiring and time consuming one, among other things.

Regardless of the reasoning that orchestras have for not picking someone, I was talking with a friend recently, and we were discussing how it has become somewhat common to see in a job advertisement something along the lines of "Please do not take this audition if you do not plan on taking the job after winning." How hypocritical. There should be a response line that says, I'll take this audition if you plan on choosing someone.

knowing the orchestra members

The other day I was thinking about why I find it more enjoyable to listen to one group rather than another. Obviously it’s always more enjoyable to watch a more talented group, a more musical group, and so on and so forth. The one reason though, that I find uniquely significant is the aspect of familiarity with the performers. These days I think orchestras and performing groups in general like to encourage their performers to associate with crowds, talk a little about themselves and their background, and try to be more connected to their audiences. Often you’ll see pages in the programs specifically devoted to “Meeting an Orchestra Member.” In the two cities I went to conservatory in, I enjoyed listening to one of the orchestras much more than the other, and I wondered why. Both orchestras are top notch (although in my opinion, I thought one of them was a little better, ha). While it could be argued that one of orchestras was actually was more musical, talented, or something else, I realized that the main reason I enjoyed watching the one orchestra more was because I knew many of its members much better on a personal level. Many of the musicians were faculty at my school, people I worked with in a one on one level, or were even previous schoolmates of mine who had won positions in the orchestra. I was able to watch the orchestra from a whole different perspective than the average audience member. I knew the players on a far deeper level as people, and it really made a difference in the whole experience. I know this sounds a little silly, but I’m really serious. It was really entertaining to watch them perform and I was truly able to relate to their performance and appreciate what they were doing much more. Not to mention, since you would often see them on a daily basis, you would see them before and after the performance, which is also another important aspect of relating to someone's performance. It’s hard for me to really explain this feeling, unless you can experience it yourself, and unfortunately most people won’t, unless they spend personal time with orchestra members. These days, while orchestras seem to be making an effort to bring the audiences closer to the performers, it still doesn’t seem to be the same as actually knowing them personally. It is certainly a step in the right direction, and I think they should keep doing it. Unfortunately, this is one of the main problems in connecting audiences with performances, and I wish I had a better answer.

metronomes...mmm

Metronomes....our time keeping devices. Some days you might love them, others, want to simply hurl them across the room and smash them to smithereens. But of course they're a necessary evil that we must practice with to ensure strict rhythm. I actually enjoy playing with a metronome sometimes...not sure why, but it sort of dictates you how fast you can go, no faster, no slower. In any case, playing with a metronome actually shouldn't be the crime most people make it out to be. In fact, if you're playing with it correctly, you really shouldn't hear the clicking at all (assuming you play an instrument louder than your metronome) because you should be playing exactly with it and thus covering the beat. Often times though, I find myself listening for the metronome to make sure I'm with it, and thus playing slightly after the click. I suppose if you're extremely consistent doing this, its not a bad thing (and would actually help when playing with orchestras who like playing slightly after a conductor's downbeat), but I would argue (and for all of you who hate playing with a metronome might use this as an excuse) that metronomes encourage playing late to the downbeat. Simply because most people are waiting to hear the beat to play with. Of course if you have good rhythm and know the pulse, this shouldn't and won't happen, but I'm just saying its a tendency which happens easily. Speaking of good pulse, have you ever been listening to pop music (or any other music in which the tempo stays exactly the same) and you leave the room short for a moment to where the music goes out of earshot, and you're singing along in your head, thinking you're with the music still, and when you come back, you're off by a beat, or heaven forbid a couple? For orchestral musicians, this is simply just blasphemy, but I'll bet it happens to the best of you. Its a test I'd like to give many of the jurors (and fellow orchestral musicians) sitting behind those screens in auditions, tapping away their pencils as if they're God's gift to perfect rhythm. After all, I wonder if they were all looking at each other's tapping whether they'd even agree with one another. Just a thought.

interesting thought no. 2

Why is it that other countries' orchestras often offer national auditions to their own citizens before opening them up internationally, and an orchestra in the United States has yet to do that (to my knowledge)? It seems as though many countries do that. Why shouldn't we?

Many U.S. orchestras seem to be stressing the fact that you need to be able to work once you win a job, and that you must take care of visas, etc. beforehand if a problem is anticipated. From recent seminars I've been to, it seems as though managements don't want to even bother with the hassle to get these visas, etc. as it is a timely and costly process for the orchestra. So why not do this?