By Baker Purdon
In the final installment of this Tour of Regional Orchestras series (See Part I and Part II), I wanted to step away from the orchestra as a whole and tell the story of what it takes to join one of these orchestras. Along the way, I’ll mention performances from three recent events I attended by the Bay Atlantic Symphony, the Kennett Symphony, and the Delaware County Youth Orchestra. I hope this final chapter leaves you with a better understanding of what orchestras are, what kind of music they play, and the incredible dedication and effort it takes to be a member (and why they are so worth valuing!).
We’ll go on this journey Benjamin Button style – in reverse order. So we begin with someone who has climbed the mountain, reached the peak, and won a seat in a professional orchestra.
(A caveat at the beginning: a professional orchestra seat is not and does not have to be every musician’s terminal goal. I’m treating it as such here for narrative effect. Every musician has their own idea of what a fulfilling and successful career looks like, and each of those careers is valid and successful.)
The process of a professional orchestral audition is a lengthy and extremely challenging one. This same process is often similar for regional orchestras, with a sometimes shorter/less involved set of audition rounds depending on the number of usual applicants for an available seat (seat meaning space for one person in the orchestral section a person plays in). This journey starts with an application, just like any other job. A musician compiles their professional credentials, previous performances and positions, recordings, and other relevant information and submits their information to the orchestra. A select number of candidates are invited to submit pre-screen materials. These are generally pre-recorded (often called self-tapes) videos of select repertoire – we’ll get more into what that repertoire is in a bit. Once those videos are submitted, an even more select group (this can be a wide-ranging number from just a few to still dozens) for live rounds, or in-person auditions.
At this stage, musicians will generally have a list of excerpts that are major (and challenging) moments for their particular instrument in the standard orchestral repertoire. If you can think of a famous instrumental solo from an orchestral piece, it will likely end up in these excerpts. We’ll talk more about this aspect in my final post for The Presser Foundation when I discuss ABDEI (Access, Belonging, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in music later this summer, but at this stage, most auditions are conducted blind. This means that the musicians and the hiring committee do not see each other face-to-face, and the only metric being judged is their musicianship, sound (meaning what kinds of sounds they get out of their instrument), and musical style. This theoretically ensures a more equitable process. Finally, in a final round audition, the few candidates are remaining, a final round of musical judgment occurs, and one lucky (or rather highly talented, committed, and hard-working) individual wins the seat in this orchestra.
To be clear, this example I’ve just walked us through is something that would happen for a seat in The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Kansas City Orchestra, or other major institutional orchestral organization. Musicians will often spend time in smaller (sometimes called regional) orchestras before this career move. (Again, returning to my caveat, not all musicians take this track, and we support and value that!). Simultaneously prior to this most challenging level of auditions, a musician will likely spend time in graduate school and play in multiple regional orchestras, like the Bay Atlantic and Kennett Symphonies.
Bay Atlantic Symphony, along with the Greater South Jersey Chorus and a roster of stellar soloists, recently performed William Grant Still’s Phantom Chapel and Beethoven’s endlessly famous Symphony No. 9, from which you’ll recognize one of the single most famous melodies in the history of humanity, the Ode to Joy. Connecting to our previous discussion of professional audition excerpts, you will be hard-pressed to find an orchestral audition that doesn’t have a Beethoven excerpt somewhere on the program – many coming from his 9th, 7th, and 5th symphonies (if you’re curious, google each and take a listen. I almost promise you’ll recognize things!). I’ll talk a bit more about William Grant Still in my upcoming ABDEI post, but I highly encourage you to take a listen – it is truly an incredible piece.
On the same weekend, the Kennett Symphony performed an exciting program of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D with David Kim, Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra, alongside a new work by Roger Zare, Neowise, which won Kennett Symphony’s composition competition. As I’ve written about previously, this is a fantastic example of the programmatic work of a 21st-century symphony – continuing the tradition of great masters like Tchaikovsky while putting living composers on equal footing with them. It creates a dynamic and refreshing experience for audiences and ensures that classical music remains as vital as possible.
Now, returning to the reverse journey of our imaginary orchestral musician. For many, prior to and concurrent with these orchestral auditions are 2-3 highly challenging degrees in music performance on their instrument. Save for extremely rare cases, almost all of these musicians will have a Bachelor of Music Performance on their instrument, a Master’s of Music in Performance on their instrument, and a large number will continue on through a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance on their instrument. This, in total, represents 9+ years of intensive, competitive, and extremely challenging study on their instrument after they’ve likely spent over a decade of their childhood devoted to the instrument as well. So when you see a musician on those stages, you usually see no less than two complete decades of advanced and challenging study just to be able to do what they do.
As I’ve hinted at throughout, every musician’s journey is unique. So for the sake of brevity, I’ll fast forward (or, I guess, fast rewind) to the beginning of this journey. Many young musicians will be introduced to their instrument through a combination of three opportunities: private lessons, school music, and youth orchestras.
The Delaware County Youth Orchestra is one of those opportunities in our area, and this past weekend they celebrated their 50th Anniversary Season with a return feature of David Kim as an invited soloist.
Youth orchestras play a vital role in the development of young musicians and the future of classical music. These ensembles provide invaluable opportunities for aspiring musicians to hone their skills, gain performance experience, and cultivate a deep passion for orchestral music. Youth Orchestras offer a supportive and nurturing environment where young musicians can learn from experienced conductors and collaborate with their peers who share a love for music. By participating in youth orchestras, young musicians develop their teamwork and discipline and hone their musicality while also building their confidence and stage presence, all of which come back as crucial aspects of their work in the auditions we discussed at the beginning of this post. These experiences shape their technical abilities and instill a lifelong appreciation for the beauty and power of orchestral music. Personally, some of my closest friends today, some 15 years after my last youth orchestra experience, are ones that I met in those rehearsals. Ultimately, youth orchestras ensure the preservation and continuation of a classical musical tradition that carries great value in our society.
While this has been possibly the most expedient trip through the career of an orchestral musician, I hope it has given you a bit more context about the incredible work that goes into the performances I’ve had the great privilege to discuss in these blog posts.
Be on the lookout for one final post this summer about my thoughts on ABDEI this summer, but until then I leave you with the single most important sentence I’ve said in all of these blog posts:
GO SEE LIVE MUSIC!
