Heard this one was a no-hire today. 4 semifinalists, all hold positions with major US orchestras, and fun fact, 2 of them studied at CIM. None advanced to finals.
This follows the Assistant Timpani audition in November, which also ended in a no-hire. Womp womp.
I wouldn’t dwell too much on the wording in the contract. There are several scenarios where the conditions could be met, or maybe the Committee would agree to a waiver. It seems unlikely that a potential applicant would be able to contest a hire based on the terms of the contract or that the Committee would object if the hire was a highly qualified, which most applicants are.
Also, note that auditions for the assistant principal position are scheduled in a few months. This might give options to the orchestra. The CSO had the assistant fill in for some time until they found the candidate they wanted for principal timpani.
The ****** issue for Cleveland right now is the vacant concertmaster position. The only upcoming auditions are assistant concertmaster 4th chair. Based on the terms of the contract, it appears there could be a (principal) concertmaster hire without an audition or a tryout. Most orchestras do a tryout.
Private round held today. No hire.
Jauvon Gilliam of the National Symphony Orchestra will be playing this position next season. Cheers to him!
I’ve heard conflicting reports about whether the second round at this audition was called a “semi” or a “final.” The distinction is kinda meaningless, since it was an unscreened round with only 4 candidates, and the Music Director was present for it. Cleveland seems to have some unique audition procedures, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most other orchestras would call that a “final“ round.
A friend told me that there were fewer than 20 candidates present at prelims, and it was a virtual “who’s who” lineup of big-name principal timpanists from around the US. If they are hoping for a more qualified candidate, they surely won’t find one.
The 4 semi-finalists were Jeremy Epp, Leo Soto, Zubin Hathi, and Colin Hartnett.
Only 2 of them studied at CIM, actually.
Now if I was a betting man for the upcoming section audition....