Klarinet Archive - Posting 000276.txt from 1999/11

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] More about 'that' audition
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 14:33:11 -0500

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tony Pay [mailto:Tony@-----.uk]
> Sent: Monday, November 08, 1999 2:10 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: RE: [kl] More about 'that' audition
>
>
> On Sun, 7 Nov 1999 22:20:12 -0500, kkrelove@-----.com said:
>
> [snip wise stuff]
>
> > But to the question as Tony Pay posed it, "Is (the audition's purpose)
> > to be fair to the community of clarinet players at large?...or is it
> > to try to find the best player for the job?" the answer I think is be
> > "No." It isn't an effective way to do either.
>
> And I agree with this. But I think you'll agree that within the subset
> of the clarinettists in the world that we had present at the audition,
> there was probably a 'best' player, in some sense.
>
Well, at this point I have to defer to your experience with such situations
in general and this one in particular. I think, though, that your qualifier
("in some sense") is a fairly large trap into which lots of excellent
players will necessarily fall because ultimately one player must, on
whatever basis becomes available, be selected when a contract is to be
offered.

> In the UK, the whole procedure would have been different. There would
> have been no winner, just a pool of players to try out in the band.
>
Sounds much more reasonable.

> But again, in the particular circumstances we found ourselves, what
> *should* we have done?
>
Given that in any case a "fair audition" in an ideal world is an oxymoron,
the acting principal should have been excused from the first round of
auditions (if he had indeed been playing to everyone's satisfaction). The
orchestra's not having done that, his first round results should have been
quietly buried, and he should have been invited to the second round in
recognition of his satisfactory performance in the orchestra. In fact, I'd
go farther and suggest that he should have been given a bye until the final
round, whatever form that took. The job should basically have been his to
lose, since he was already doing it. He should have had to compete only with
any others who were being seriously considered. If someone else had come
along who could do the job better, the orchestra would be so much the
stronger. If not, well enough could have been gracefully left alone and the
man could have gone on doing what he had been doing.

Karl Krelove

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org