Sometimes it’s better to continue with temporary players than to commit long-term to someone who won’t work out. This could be because no one at the audition played at a level befitting the rest of the orchestra, or more likely, their personal style or sound isn’t compatible with the rest of an ensemble. At a major orchestra, the winner of an audition may be with the ensemble for 20-30 years or more, so it’s a big decision.
That’s not what nepotism is. Often, there are contractual or policy reasons that a current member of the orchestra is automatically advanced to the final round. An argument for this can be made that a current member has already won a position in the orchestra and does not need to prove themselves through the preliminary rounds.
Outside candidates who are known to be very good players and already have successful careers will often be pre-advanced to semis or final rounds because it’s how you get them to show up in the first place. You want to have best possible pool of candidates for any given position, but there’s significant reputational risk for someone with an established career to have even a slightly bad day and not make it through the prelims, so most would pass if not pre-advanced.
randomsynchronicity t1_j6zkqmv wrote
Reply to comment by SillySundae in I'm Yves Abel, Principal Conductor of the San Diego Opera. I’ve conducted all over the globe, and even got to work with the great Leonard Bernstein while in training. AMA! by sandiegoopera
Sometimes it’s better to continue with temporary players than to commit long-term to someone who won’t work out. This could be because no one at the audition played at a level befitting the rest of the orchestra, or more likely, their personal style or sound isn’t compatible with the rest of an ensemble. At a major orchestra, the winner of an audition may be with the ensemble for 20-30 years or more, so it’s a big decision.
That’s not what nepotism is. Often, there are contractual or policy reasons that a current member of the orchestra is automatically advanced to the final round. An argument for this can be made that a current member has already won a position in the orchestra and does not need to prove themselves through the preliminary rounds.
Outside candidates who are known to be very good players and already have successful careers will often be pre-advanced to semis or final rounds because it’s how you get them to show up in the first place. You want to have best possible pool of candidates for any given position, but there’s significant reputational risk for someone with an established career to have even a slightly bad day and not make it through the prelims, so most would pass if not pre-advanced.