Questions & Answers

It's a training orchestra, similar to New World, except it's a part of Bard College and they offer master's degrees. However there was a thread about TŌN awhile back and a lot of people brought up some problems with how its run, so I'd go back and check that out too.

If you are in an ICSOM group, I recommend asking your ICSOM rep to post about this in the delegate-L chain. That would be the fastest way to gather responses from other orchestras around the country so you can establish what “industry standards” are for this topic. But without language about comps in your CBA, there is probably nothing you will be able to impose/enforce on your management. Most groups probably see comps as a courtesy to their musicians and a way to help fill up a concert hall, not a required benefit of the musicians and staff’s compensation packages.

What @notabassplayer said is also true in my orchestra- we have a huge hall and we often get 1-4 comp tickets for classical programs, but we often don’t get any comps for films and pop artists since they tend to sell quite well.

Agree with what other have already said, and I would add that if you apply to a 1-year / temp position and win the job, you should get as much information as you can about the reason for the vacancy before you start. You might approach the job slightly different if the permanent spot is going to eventually become open … even if you’re on a 1-year you should be thinking of it as an extended trial period because colleagues will be hearing you and thinking “is this the right person to do this job forever?”

But if it’s a sabbatical or medical leave replacement and the permanent player is definitely coming back, you might approach the 1-year as more of a learning opportunity and you’ll want to continue taking as many other permanent auditions as you can while you’re there. Just some food for thought .

I think you’ll find that reaching a semifinal once for an orchestra is not enough of an accomplishment (on its own) to be auto-advanced in their next audition. Even reaching a final round is sometimes not enough to get an auto-advance. I think you should expect to start in the prelim round again.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking the personnel manager and making a request for an auto-advance. You can include references from high profile teachers/coaches and things of that nature, and you can also make reference to your travel schedule - for instance, if you play in another professional orchestra whose performance schedule would cause you to miss the prelims and therefore threaten your ability to even take the audition, you could mention this. Most likely, the personnel manager will either give you a flat “no” or they will go to the committee chair and ask if they would like to re-review your application and consider additional circumstances. But unless you advance very far in a previous audition, making the finals at a minimum, I think you should always expect to start again in the prelims the next time there is a vacancy.