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SubCategory Archive (tags): ‘Orchestra 101’

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That Audition was Rigged! What a Joke!

PUBLISHED: June 17, 2011, Bruce Hembd

At one time I was very active in taking orchestral auditions, and when I heard about a younger colleague’s recent adventures it brought back many memories. The story amounts to a guy on a national audition tour where he twice was the final candidate at an audition where no winner was ultimately chosen. The great [...]

How to Annoy and Alienate Colleagues in 11 Easy Steps!

PUBLISHED: March 23, 2011, Archibald Noodlefish
The Jaded Clam Award

Quirky personalities are more-or-less a fact of life in the classical music profession. For non-musicians and students, it can almost seem like a dirty secret when the dramas behind-the-scenes are discovered. A prevailing thought among spectators is that because music is performed so harmoniously, professional musicians must all get along like peas in a pod. [...]

Orchestra 101 Bonus: Look at the Conductor if Possible

PUBLISHED: January 11, 2011, John Ericson

Not long ago I was observing a rehearsal and at one point was in a position where I could see all the players from nearly the perspective of the conductor. During that time I had quite a shock actually, those conductors are not crazy, people hardly looked up at all! Principal players observed with solo [...]

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Orchestra 101

Orchestra 101 Bonus: Wi-Fi in Rehearsal

PUBLISHED: December 11, 2010, John Ericson

One of my favorite series of articles on Horn Matters is the Orchestra 101 series. The following is one of several upcoming short bonus articles. “Back in the day” (it seems like a while ago) when cell phones were still more or less futuristic devices about the size of a brick I was playing in [...]

My First Rehearsal in Nashville

PUBLISHED: September 22, 2010, John Ericson

In the recent interview article with Bruce Richards he had a quote from our common teacher David Wakefield which reminded me of my first rehearsal in Nashville as a young professional. The advice Richards recalled was, “Before your first solo entrance look the conductor in the eye. This will give him confidence that you know [...]

Tenure and the Hornist

PUBLISHED: September 16, 2010, John Ericson

Julia Rose posted to her site recently a very interesting article on “Audition Fads.” In it she touched on several topics but I would like to focus in on just one portion of it, on the topic of tenure. Tenure is a form of guaranteed employment and as Julia notes usually orchestra contracts in the [...]

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College, Orchestra 101

Adaptistration Wage Reports 2010

PUBLISHED: June 17, 2010, John Ericson

One of the blogs Bruce and I both follow is Adaptistration, the site of arts consultant Drew McManus. He put up recently a series of four posts of wage reports for ICSOM and ROPA orchestras for 2010 which are must reads for those interested in orchestral playing. The data is accurate for the 2007/08 season [...]

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Orchestra 101
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.