As if anyone needed more proof that the audition screen really is a smoke screen, and that the race of the person auditioning is often known during the audition process, here are two recent examples of orchestra tryouts taking place in public.
The New York Times writes about Burt Hara (formerly principal clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra) auditioning in performance at the New York Philharmonic.
And flutist Mathieu Dufour has ended his flirtation with the Los Angeles Philharmonic after he auditioned that orchestra for several months. The Frenchman decided to go back to his old job in Chicago.
What's the relevance to race? Orchestras have defended the low number of African American members by saying auditions are played from behind screens, therefore race cannot be a factor. In a column last year I listed all the ways musicians get around audition screens, and these two recent stories drive home the point.
It's not just for principal posts, by the way, that the audition screen isn't used. It typically comes down in the final round of any audition.
More important, as I wrote earlier, there are many other ways in which the audition screen is rendered useless.
The "pipeline" question? Some observers say there just aren't enough African American players of a high enough caliber auditioning. I don't buy it. First of all, great African American musicians are now making it into the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Shea Scruggs), the San Diego Symphony (Demarre McGill) and the Metropolitan Opera orchestra (Anthony McGill). Jeff Scott, hornist of Imani Winds, is exactly the blend of high energy and polish any orchestra could use (though maybe he's happier not being tied to an orchestra). Why hasn't some big orchestra scooped up freelance trumpeter Rodney Mack?
To look at a recent concert by the Curtis orchestra, the pipeline, if it is a problem now, won't be a problem much longer. But will these players make it onto substitute lists at major orchestras? Will big ensembles court them as they have courted Hara and Dufour?
Despite the declared rules and guidelines, an orchestra will hire the player it wants to hire. If the player in question is African American and the orchestra wants to hire him or her, the orchestra will find a way. That hasn't happened enough. I'm not suggesting I've seen overt, stated racism of the easily recognized kind. But the neglect and denial surrounding this issue is still racism, passive though it may be.
Peter, I know you like to stir the pot, but would you please confine your writing to things that you understand? Symphony orchestras don't "scoop up" players, even very good ones. At some stage in the game, every player who wishes to land a significant position (i.e., one with an annual salary which exceeds the poverty line-- and there are not many) needs to have a track record of audition success at a substantial level. Even being a semi-finalist in a major orchestra may be enough to put a player on the national radar. In the last half century, virtually no one has been invited to a "performing" audition without either being a titled musician in a peer ensemble, or at least showing an exceptional track record in major auditions. The two examples you cite above involve current Principal players in the Minnesota Orchestra and Chicago Symphony. Though they may not have participated in preliminary auditions in New York and LA, their respective positions and record of auditioning before that are more than enough to warrant advancement to a final round. Many if not most final rounds involve a player playing with the group for a week or more before being formally named the winner and being offered a contract. The two non-titled players you name, while they may be excellent musicians, are not currently titled with orchestras of any significance, and thus are unlikely to be advanced past a semi-final round. This does not diminish their ability; it merely means that they have made their mark in an area outside of orchestral music, and must for the time being participate in the entire process like other non-titled musicians. I wholeheartedly agree, though, with the observation that particularly the African-American quotient in American orchestras is very much out of proportion. Perhaps your writing energy would be more appropriately directed toward those that have ravaged music education programs in areas with typically high minority concentration.— SupportTheArtsInPhilly- What a crock. Excuse me, but this is just like why they can't find good conductors. It's all too "inside." You simply can't advance players just because they have another position. It violates the essence of auditioning. We'd be better off with the old system of everybody having to get to New York in June and make the rounds, auditioning for everyone all at once. There's no motivation to audition if you know a player has been subbing for a year and going directly to finals. There's no point to it. I didn't audition for the Minnesota Orchestra because of that. I knew that there was no way they would not hire the sub who was already living in the Twin Cities for many years, playing with the SPCO, and very highly regarded. I do know of players with NO orchestral experience at all who have been invited directly to either finals or PRIVATE auditions just because they were prominent soloists. And I know orchestras who have kept on very green players, effectively extending their trial period for two or three years to give them time to fit in, because they were so wanted, for some inexplicable reason. Orchestra players are willing to overlook too much because someone has "paid their dues", a ridiculous mentality. What about the dues one pays by being unemployed for years on end because of fixed, unfair or inaccessible auditions? And let us not forget the outlandish fees being charged to audition, refunded if you show up, but money that is tied up for months. That said, anyone can get in if they are determined and talented enough, presumably. I don't want any players chosen because of their race alone.— Zlatkovski
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