Hey Forum World. Question here. The Indianapolis Symphony posted a one year principal trumpet audition on July 10th with the audition application being due by the end of the day and the audition being held on the 20th with no repertoire list available prior to the application being submitted. Upon some further investigation the repertoire list is maybe six pieces all being the most common principal trumpet excerpts out there. So I guess my question is- is this turning into a new normal especially regarding the numerous one-year auditions popping up?
I apologize if this is in the wrong sub category on this site. I'm just curious to think what other people think about this and if this is the expectation now. Thanks!
I said I wasn’t going to do this, but since people seem to have a problem with my comments, here you go.
First off, there are a lot of different forces at play when filling a position: Management, Musicians, Musicians Local, Music Director. The orchestra is in an odd spot because there are so many vacancies and especially in the brass section, not very many tenured members (retirements, lack of MD to fill vacancies). It was my understanding that the brass section wanted to appoint someone OR have an invite only audition, both/either of which were given the OK by management, and have been happening in other sections since the end of the pandemic.
It was in fact, the LOCAL (as in AFM affiliated musicians union) that stepped in and said they needed to have an audition so that locals could have the opportunity to apply, hence the last minute audition. Given the time frame of needing someone for the entire year at a premium position, the last minute nature was a necessity. I can assure you the musicians involved were not pleased with this decision, but it indeed came from the union, so any suggestion that it was illegal or against the CBA is incorrect. Why would we not want the most people possible to attend? Wouldn’t we want to get the best player possible? I would.
Things that are true:
The individual who won had absolutely no prior relationship to the orchestra, so the suggestion that it was rigged or and inside job is not true. At all. Instead of bashing the musicians, they should be applauded for listening with care and giving the candidates a fair shake. They could have easily no-hired it and moved on to their preferred person
A number of people that the brass section were interested in and who had been invited to play with the orchestra this summer COULDN’T ATTEND THE AUDITION. Again, calling it rigged or and inside job is not true.
It is standard hiring practice at the ISO to require a medical exam prior to employment at the organization. I had to do one as a tenure track member. It is not an ADA violation, as any HR or disability attorney will tell you.
I find it extremely troubling that people immediately jump to false accusations and suggestions that things are "fixed", "rigged", “illegal”, or "sketchy". Many of the accusations I have seen regarding no hires or audition practices are speculative at best and downright wrong at worst. If you don't want to audition somewhere because of how you perceive they go about their business, that is your prerogative.
As someone said above, if you want a job in this industry, you have to work hard and play the game. I’m sorry to those who perhaps wanted to audition but couldn’t, but if this was done the way it was originally intended, there wouldn’t have been a public audition. The main issue is not how things happen, it’s that there is a huge supply and very small demand. Again, your prerogative to play the game or not.
I’m sorry if I offended anyone with my comments, but it’s pretty frustrating to see an immediate jump to foul play without first knowing the facts, and then I have to (or I guess choose to) come in here and defend myself and the orchestra when in fact, nothing that happened was wrong. It was also wrong of me to decry people for speaking anonymously. However, just because you don’t agree with how something is done, doesn’t make it wrong.
If anyone has any questions or would like to discuss this more, feel free to reach out to me @thecandidclarinetist on Instagram.
Sam