Klarinet Archive - Posting 001206.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: The right to audition
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 22:10:34 -0400

On Tue, 21 Apr 1998, Craig E. Countryman wrote:
> After all, realizing the costs to go to an audition, the time to prepare, and
> the fact that most of these musicians have a great deal of schooling and feel
> they deserve the position, why would those who go not be qualified??

I usually think of Craig's postings as quite thoughtful and curiously
refreshing. My thoughts regarding this one are that he has, perhaps, very
little experience in the area of hiring and firing.

For every job that is open, there will be a large percentage of people who
send resumes for consideration who are, quite understandably, unqualified.
They do not know they are unqualified, so they apply. That is why there
is a process of application and consideration by a committee of such
applications and resumes.

> Why would
> that many people waste their time? They may not all be virtuositic players,
> but I believe that the majority could probably do the job. The auditioning
> committee are interested in finding the most qualified and that is where the
> process really begins. Certainly there will be some that are unqualified, but
> I doubt that most are unqualified. If we cannot get 200-300 qualified
> clarinetists to apply for a major position then how do we have enough to teach
> at our universities, make solo appearances, etc, etc.

Being able to do the job is important. However, being virtuostic, at
least in the case of the NSO, is a requirement. Therefore, Craig seems to
understand that some, if not most, of the people who aspire to audition
are probably unqualified for the position.

The secondary issue of, "how do we have enough [competent clarinetists?]
to teach at our universities, make solo appearances, etc, etc." really has
very little to do with playing in a professional orchestra. I could have
remained in Oregon and played in the symphony there.....I chose to pursue
a teaching career that included, along with it, a multitude of performance
opportunities. I value the release time during vacations and summers, the
paid trips to further my development as a teacher/performer, and the flex
time (I don't have to go into school if I don't teach on a particular day)
associated with college teaching. Quite frankly, compared to the hectic
schedule of the symphony performer, I made the personal decision to stick
with teaching. Some do not follow that path...and that is fine. But,
most of our professional teachers are extremely qualified to perform in a
major symphony orchestra.........Klug, Spring, Mandat, Storey,
Ludwig-Verhder, and the list goes on and on........play much better than
people I have heard in major symphony orchestras!

The fact remains - many people apply who will waste the time of the
committe auditioning for a position they are unqualified for - that is why
we have resumes and tapes to help make those decisions in advance.

Roger Garrett
IWU