Ok also **** is me misspelling shot just fyi

Clearly the current hiring process needs to be tweaked, and I agree with both of you. I do think it is worth noting that a big benefit on the pros column of blind auditions is that it is one of the most fair ways to hire someone that exists in any field. What happens before or after that aside, blind auditions were one of the best things implemented in the orchestra world in the 20th century. i think that recorded prelims are a great way to let people know if they even have a real **** at winning, so they should probably be used more. That being said, it is kind of incredible to me how many people don’t get past recorded rounds. I know players that have gone in to their next audition and made finals who didn’t get past recorded prelim for the previous audition of an orchestra of a similar level. Would be interested to know why people think this is. Could it be recording quality or just less time to prepare ? I don’t really know. as for the financial side of things, to sort of play devils advocate , I feel that this field is a high risk high reward one. Of course, it is MUCH easier to become a classical musician if you come from money and a privileged demographic - I would never suggest the opposite. I will say that once it gets to the level where you are in the audition circuit , it seems the majority of us are not making much money at all and are often overextending our finances to stay on the audition circuit. I have always accepted that as just a truth of trying to pull off a career that very few people are able to do. You have to accept that risk going into it, and it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. BUT - that ideology only makes sense if when you get to the audition they actually hire someone. Ans these days that seems Decreasingly to be the case. anyways that’s my two cents no one asked for .