It was indeed Michael Bellofatto - he (and Guangwei Fan) have been added to the orchestra's roster online. Between this and his NY Phil trial he's had quite a successful audition year!

I don't think finals are until June.

Apparently there were 5 total finalists but I don't know who the others were.

I know it's the Canadian national round, but still, yowza.

Like, only 4 showed up for the first round!? Yikes.

Update: I hear that Kwong HoHin won the 2nd horn position.

Finals are April 2nd.

Congrats to Antonello Di Matteo!

If you search Nikki Abissi up on Google, the first result after her own website is her bio on the Pershing's Own website, which probably caused the confusion.

Update: according to the Last Row Music website, Donovan Klutho was the winner. He is currently a member of the Navy Band Northwest.

From what I hear, NOI is only starting to release early decisions this week, so it may be a bit before we know anything.

Interesting, seems to almost be a mix between trials and a probationary year, which I haven't seen before. Best of luck to the two of them, they are both stellar trombonists.

Looks like Johnston and Gullett have been named co-principals. Not sure if this is part of the trial period and they'll choose one, or if they've hired both.

Christopher Bassett's trial was successful and he has announced he will join the symphony beginning next season.

I'm not sure if there are any rules in their audition process that allow for that. Most likely they are just all stellar players who got on the sub list and were willing to fly out for a week. I know the runner-up for the 2nd trombone audition has also subbed a couple times in the past couple months.

Worth noting that the three other finalists from last May - James Vaughen, Stuart Stephenson, and Steven Franklin - have all played guest principal since January. Then again, they are all probably on the sub list anyway.

I believe there was a named runner up for the trombone audition though.