SEATING IN THE ORCHESTRA.
Rules.
CONCERTMASTER AUDITIONS.
In reverance and keep with the tradition set by my teachers from the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, IYCA will have a total of four concertmasters rotating for each concert during our 2009-2010 season. Those who wish to be concertmaster, you must audition as normal members of IYCA on the specified audition dates. If you are a returning IYCA member, you need not audition again. However, auditions for concertmaster will be held in front of the entire orchestra as is the tradition in Berlin and Vienna. There are no exceptions. Those who wish to audition must notify our music director during any rehearsal. Auditions will be held at the first rehearsal after a concert. Repertoire will be any Mozart Violin Concerto No.1-5 of your choice. There are no excerpts or scales required to be a concertmaster. In many orchestras in Europe, concertmasters are world-class soloists and are expected to be leaders for the first violins.
SEATING PLACEMENT FOR STRINGS & WINDS.
Some orchestras have no seating placement: they rotate for each concert. Many youth and professional orchestras do this for a variety of reasons, the main being a sense of “equality.” As a result, most string players don’t practice their parts and come to rehearsals unprepared.
Some orchestras have a “fixed seating placement” – auditions in the beginning of the year dictate your seats. As a result, string players in the back of a section learn quickly not to try. As a result, most players in the back of a section do not practice their parts and come to rehearsals unprepared.
In this orchestra, IYCA, everyone must practice and try their hardest. We will make sure of this by asking everyone to play by themselves at any given time for everyone to hear. This will determine your seating.
Our rule: You will be asked to play, by yourself, in your seat, excerpts from any music from the concert program, in front of the orchestra at any given rehearsal. Parts are always posted online. We scan every page of our repertoire online for you to download. They are marked clearly with bowings. Seating auditions will be based on how you play at this “audition.” For example, at the beginning of each month, the first violins may be asked to all play, one by one, a passage from the Beethoven Violin Concerto tutti section from letter A to letter C. Everyone plays the same passage. You will be seated based on how you play.
Our goal is to reward musicians for their effort, and in all fairness, everyone gets the same treatment and everyone gets to hear you play – there is no bias. Each week, one section will be auditioned. For example, in week two, the violas and celli will be asked to audition for their seats, and it can be from the Haydn Cello Concerto No.1 from letter J to letter K. Seating will be based on how you play your parts. We will never ask for any solos or concertos.
If for ANY reason you are absent when we audition, you will be put last stand when you return the following rehearsal. There are no exceptions. We will not reaudition the entire section if 2 or 4 or 8 people are absent due to SATs or cross country or debate tournaments, for example. Those who are present and have auditioned will be placed accordingly.
PRINCIPALS will be chosen based on this process. The strings will have no more than two principals for violin two, violas, and celli. This is the model used in Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, though they sometimes have four principals rotating. Principals will rotate for each work. The section, however, will not rotate. Once auditions conclude for an entire section, you do not move until the concert is finished. New seats will be chosen for each concert after auditions within the section. Everyone plays everytime.
ABSENCES DURING AUDITIONS.
If you are absent on the day we hold auditions for any reason – excused or unexcused – we will put you in the back of the section. If you feel you must audition to get a fair chair, you may do so in front of the entire orchestra. We understand there are conflicts beyond your control, however, to be fair to everyone who auditioned the previous week, we ask you be prepared and play for everyone should you choose to do so.
This determines your seats for each concert.
Every section will play at least once before each concert for seating. Passages will be chosen from the concert repertoire by our Music Director who will also decide in his best judgment who sits where.