Another Philadelphia Orchestra principal player leaves
It's official. Nitzan Haroz, the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal trombonist, has taken the same position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Another Philadelphia Orchestra principal player leaves
Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
It's official. Nitzan Haroz, the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal trombonist, has taken the same position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Here's his statement:
"I have accepted the position of principal trombone of the LA Philharmonic and will start in August of 2012. I feel fortunate that the Philadelphia Orchestra is granting me a year's leave of absence as I move through the tenure process in LA. This is for me the best and most prudent way to approach the opportunity with the LA Philharmonic."
The Israeli-born Haroz, who joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1995, played at the highest levels during his tenure, and has been a solidifying force in the brass section. He has been an active teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University. Internally, his reputation is that of a supportive colleague. I think it's safe to say many listeners have followed his work closely, and will consider this a great loss.
Comments (17)
Who can blame him?
Nice work, Board!! This ship had better be righted soon!!!!!— philorchphilsphan- The ship is lost. They will never restore the money taken from the musicians. You can't have a great orchestra on miser's budget.
The musicians have some responsibility, because they have shown they will work for less, so why should they get more? The fact that artists are leaving in droves matters little to board members who can't tell the difference between the Philadelphia Orchestra and Lancaster Symphony. This disaster and resultant exodus started when they built the hall they can't afford, hired a pretend conductor (Eschy), and forced out players "to make the orchestra younger." Thank you, Sawallisch.
Thanks most of all to the Board, for their bassackwerd approach to saving the Titanic.— altekakker - The incompetence of the Orchestra management with respect to the damage they have caused to the Orchestra cannot be overstated. I have watched as they have made disastrous decisions, ignored the most basic business principles, refused to consider viable alternatives, made statements in private and in public that indicate to me that they know and care as little about financial solutions for the Orchestra as they do about impact that their actions will have upon the players. (The loss of Nitzan is a perfect example.) It is as though they see the Orchestra as a blank canvass for them to paint their picture on, when in reality, they are painting over The Mona Lisa. The picture did not need to be changed. The artistic synergy was as close to perfect as mankind can accomplish. Management's job was to protect the Orchestra, ensure its artistic excellence for the future. Instead they have ruined it. It may take 2 years or it may take ten, but on the current path, the Orchestra is done. Why would top talent stay here? And as they depart (eg Nitzan), why would top talent want to come here? I am aware that management truly believes that these players will not leave, that they HAVE no options. Management is about to get a lesson on how NOT to run an orchestra. I am just so sorry that the musicians and the people of Philadelphia will be the ones to suffer the consequences. The musicians did the hard part. The rest of the job was just math, and first-year business school concepts.— TRexx
- The LA Phil is on the way up, the Phluffya Aukstra is on the verge of oblivion. Who can blame the musicians when they leave? They have lives and careers to protect, and our orchestra attacks its own players. "Where are they going?" the board said. You have the answer-- anywhere but this one-donkey town.— altekakker
- Five years into the future, the orchestra might be gone and instead, the Kimmel Center will feature rap shows. It's sad, but Philadelphia is on track to becoming the next Detroit.— RightSaidJeff
- As much as I want to desparately deny the critics above, evidence is showing me they are fundamentally right. The board must be reformed with caring individuals who see the reality of preserving as much of
this great resource as possible and building on it. It would be sad indeed to see Verizon Hall go the way of the Merriam and the Prince.
There may be an orchestra here at the end of Yannick's contract but will it resemble the current one, whose cracks are becoming evident weekly.— salazar - After living almost 65 years in Philadelphia, I now reside in Paris where, when you mention the Phila Orch, the remark is always "isn't that the one that went bankrupt?" Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti, Sawallisch, Eschenbach, Dutoit, Yannick...hundreds of fabulous orchestral musicians, but only the bankruptcy sticks in the minds of Europeans. Where the POA is really bankrupt is in the leadership department especially at the Board level. The chapter 11 declaration was simply a strategy to break the back of the musicians, the pension fund, and the Kimmel Center rental agreement. The real result has been to crush the spirit and reputation of a great ensemble. Like the proverbial gorilla, these musicians can go wherever they want, other orchestras and/or important teaching positions. There are Board members who think that the virtuosi of an orchestra are anonymous workers toiling in the fields and only the name the "Philadelphia Orchestra" counts. That name has been disgraced...forever? Je crains que oui.— ledoyen
- It is most unfortunate that Nitzan Haroz is leaving for LA, at least for the 1 year. However, the LA Phil was "on its way up" for long before this, through the tenure of Esa-Pekka Salonen in terms of building up street cred through innovative programming of contemporary music, not to mention the new concert hall, which obviously they pulled off better than the Kimmel. Plus, in terms of finding a replacement, the sad truth is that we have a glut of terrific orchestra players in the US. There will be tons of trombone players anxious to audition for this post, and there will be no lack of resumes and qualified people. Are they versed in the Philadelphia Orchestra tradition? No, but whoever wins will learn fast.
The fundamental root of the problem is, as others have noted, the board of trustees and their Scott Walker/Koch brothers-like attitude of sticking it to the rank and file. Unfortunately, the critics of the board don't have the $ to make it on to the board of trustees and change attitudes there. And like it or not, the issue is raising the money needed to support the musicians and maintain the orchestra at the level that it needs to be. It may make us feel righteous and superior to denounce the board as the crass philistines that they are, but guess what: they have the big bucks, and we don't. It's theoretically possible for "the 99%" to try to fill the gap, but I don't really see any calls for that the commenters here. Any takers?— The Other George W. - Bad news, The Other George W.-
The Active Board, that is, the Board members who actually/actively participate in the decision making such as those disastrous decisions of the past year, are, with, one exception, all LIBERALS and have consistently supported liberal Democrat causes, and NOT Republican or Conservative causes. The one "exception" on the Board does not have a clear affiliation to either side. Do your homework. Your caparison to Scott Walker and the Koch brothers is ridiculous, misinformed, and mean spirited.— TRexx - Interesting that my comment from a few hours ago has not been posted.— ledoyen
- More bad news, other George. There is not glut of "terrific" players in the US. There will be many applicants, but practically no great players. You can't tell the difference, that's all. Perhaps you could provide us with a list of great players you know who would give up their career tracks to come to our dying orchestra. The reason Mr. Haroz was here is because he is a rare player, a great artist with a world-wide reputation. There are not two like him, only one. Now, LA will have him, and not for one year, either.
The board does not raise money to support the musicians. They do it to have the orchestra, as a concept and institution. They have decided it should cost less, so now it does. In the process, they have made the orchestra irrelevant and and obsolete. Now they have to try raise money for something no one cares about. Good luck, geniuses.— altekakker - I had great hopes when Yannick signed on. Now I'm not so sure. It's sad.— Enaj
- I'll pile on. The loss of some of our best musicians is deeply troubling, as well as the board's apparent apathy towards the issue. YNS was a great get, but if the board thinks that's all it's going to take to revive the PO then they're sorely mistaken.— CoolZanna
- Seems to me there's one critical element to all of this that's not being mentioned: the fact that the orchestra is playing to something like 60% capacity on a regular basis. That is not a situation that can last for long, and may be contributing to the funding problems for a great, and very expensive orchestra. Is it possible the PO is becoming irrelevant to a new generation of Philadelphians? Perhaps YNS can re-ignite consumer interest in the Orchestra. If not, we can only expect the situation to become more dire as time goes on. It all goes back to the audience, or lack of same.— giles
- oh no! I've always enjoyed Nitzan Haroz's trombone style. this is a major loss to the Philly orchestra.
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About this blog
Peter Dobrin is a classical music critic and culture writer for The Inquirer. Since 1989, he has written music reviews, features, news and commentary for the paper, covering such topics as the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Venice Biennale, expansion of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra's bankruptcy declaration in 2011, Philadelphia's evolving performing arts center and the general health of arts and culture.
Dobrin was a French horn player. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Elliott Galkin. He has no time to practice today.
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