Orchestra Auditions Need A Fresh Look
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Artswatch
Orchestra Auditions Need A Fresh Look
Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
A few more thoughts on how the audition process at orchestras is anything but impartial, and how some orchestras have no great will to increase African American membership.
First, many players auditioning are contacted in advance and invited to audition - either by friends or relatives already in that orchestra, or by an administrator. That means if an orchestra really is interested in increasing the number of African American players, they can increase the odds by inviting certain known players. How often has this happened? Not much, from what I hear.
Second, one of the best ways to get into any orchestra is to study with a current member of that orchestra. It does two things. The member can get his or her student work as a substitute in the orchestra - sometimes without a substitute audition - which means the student is getting valuable experience in learning the style of the orchestra, which will in turn make for a more successful audition. It also often means that the teacher, when he hears the student playing from behind the screen in an audition, can recognize who is playing. And so, if an orchestra really is interested in increasing its African American membership, it will begin a formal training program to nurture potential new members. That's happening at some orchestras.
By the way, the two items above are cost-prohibitive. It takes money to take audition after audition (airfare, hotel). It takes big money to study with a player in a major orchestra. This is another way some aspiring African American musicians find themselves at a disadvantage. Do any orchestras offer financial assistance? I'd bet the flutist from Chicago and the clarinetist trying out in New York had their expenses paid.
And so, again, it really comes down to this: orchestras will hire who they want to hire. So far, there's not an impressive track record of orchestras wanting to hire more African American members.
Thank you for offering a needed, a long overdue and a clearly stated opinion. Many interested black musicians are out there and their increased inclusion is welcome.— DRG- The reason there are virtually no Black musicians in orchestras are because orchestras do not want Black musicians. It's that simple. Screened auditions protect the orchestra from possible lawsuits or whatever. It has nothing to do with being "impartial". It's all about where and who you study with, who your friends are, family ties, or who you are married/involved with.— knittingmad
- knittingmad, I wish it were that simple. If any performing ensemble were found to have deliberately dismissed a candidate because of his color (or, for that matter, gender, religion, or sexual orientation), it would be hard to argue against shutting them down for good, or at least very, very serious sanctions and multiple rolled heads. In a 25+ year career in orchestral music as a performer and administrator, I have been involved in well over a hundred union-sanctioned auditions-- the kind with mandatory screens in the preliminary rounds-- as a candidate, as a panelist, and as an impartial and non-voting personnel manager. I can tell you that the sad truth is that proportionally speaking, very few black musicians participate in the process. My guess would be that about one-half of one percent of all candidates would describe themselves as black. Of course, the reasons for this are myriad; most notable and egregious of these is the slashing of music education programs in elementary and secondary schools in areas with typically high minority concentration. Although there have been encouraging upticks in black enrollment at major conservatories like Curtis and Juilliard-- the schools at which players most likely to win auditions tend to study-- the fact is that blacks are still woefully under-represented in the talent pool at large. Mr. Dobrin might like to take issue with that, and that's fine. There are many, many extraordinarily talented black musicians today. We've seen many come through Philadelphia and onto major orchestral positions-- trombonists Kenneth Tompkins and Weston Sprott come to mind. But when a variety of factors only produce about one black candidate out of two hundred, there is much more at play here than the possibility of institutional racism. In order to promote a greater minority representation in the arts, we've got to start treating the disease rather than managing the symptoms.— SupportTheArtsInPhilly
- They also have to be interested in classical music, or not going after bigger money in popular music, or more easily available gigs. You can't pick the race of players. Which group gets favored over others? If anything, Asian players are getting favored because of technical proficiency alone in many cases. The bigger problem is that players already in orchestras are obsessed with technique and accuracy and not artistry and style. They don't seem to be able to ear the difference. Now, that you have told us how many auditions you have been involved in, how many of them were totally fair and impartial, with no favoritism shown to anyone? I've heard so many stories, most of them at least partly true. How about the "competition" between orchestras, trying to steal players from each other--even when they are not that great! Why are orchestra perpetually hiring too-young players, assuming they'll develop into something fine, only to find out too late that they won't?— Zlatkovski
- Hi Zlatkovski, thanks for your response. I never said that auditions of any variety were a bulletproof process; If an orchestra or other auditioning body really wants to circumvent the anonymity and fairness of the process, there are ways to do that. Yes, I have been involved in many auditions like that, though I'd like to think never as a panelist or a proctor. And, if an orchestra is so driven to do so, there are ways to navigate the process with the goal of inviting titled players from peer groups to perform, serving as an audition. We saw that recently when Philly's own Ricardo Morales performed a series with the Chicago Symphony and was offered the Principal position immediately. But on the other side, we can't ignore evidence that the process actually can be fair and impartial. Did anyone really believe a handful of years ago that the Philadelphia Orchestra would hire a female Principal Tuba who had yet to finish her senior year of college? The New York Philharmonic hired two college-age trumpeters with virtually no professional experience within a year of each other. Why? Because they wanted to hire "minor leaguers" on the cheap? Nope. Base pay is base pay. It's because they were the best players at those auditions, and they were deemed the best fit for those groups. (Incidentally each of those three players have been tenured in their positions and enjoy universal critical acclaim.) So, while it would be foolish of me or anyone else to say that the audition process is pristine, the characterization of orchestras consistently operating behind the scenes, excluding blacks, and disregarding the audition process is similarly unjust. And Zlat, I agree with you-- I've always thought it funny that no one seems to think of Asian players, or Israeli players or what have you, as minorities. And your assessment of orchestral style is also on target: We've really reach a period of homogeneity in American orchestral music, an unfortunate thing indeed.— SupportTheArtsInPhilly
- Merit should be the only criterion, forget everything else. Musical excellence is the goal, not a politically correct number of members of each racial of ethic group. The composition of the Orchestra right now is radically different than the general population and that will always be if it is merit based.— Joe Deegan
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.
