The top story on myauditions today regarding the principal flautist, Dawn Weiss and her battles with the Oregon Symphony's conductor, Carlos Kalmar is a must read.

Weiss spent thousands of dollars to appease Kalmar's requirements but those requirements are too subjective to quantify in any other way except personal interpretive style.

It was a losing battle for Weiss because the metrics imposed upon her were set up for her to fail.

What I think it really came down to is personal style and interpersonal skills. Weiss and Kalmar obviously never saw eye to eye and it is Kalmar's perogative to look for new talent.

I think there is a great deal more going on than what was able to be reported in the paper (pesky space considerations) so I'm not so certain that the question subjectivity has a universal answer, especially since the artistic review process isn't even completed yet. The Oregon musicians are an integral part of that process in this stage and the orchestra (as do all orchestras) must rely on their membership to do the right thing during difficult decisions.

As such, contractual guidelines help that process along immensely. I would also say that in the end, those contractual procedures in place at Oregon will guide the situation to its best possible outcome. I published something about that issue today: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives20050401.shtml#99449

Drew

Great point, Drew - the process is not over yet. The newspaper article would make one think "that's it".

I know I hope the day never comes when I'm asked to step down from a job, much less if I'm not even 60 and have a kid to raise! Yikes!

edit: Let me add that my heart goes out to Dawn Weiss. I've seen other people in other orchestras go through this and I think it absolutely sucks. Best wishes, Dawn!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RWhite,

Perhaps Dawn Weiss uses myauditions and would post her side of the story? If not, maybe someone should let her know about this service to give her an outlet. yes, I know you are probably thinking that she won't until she has it resolved but who knows, may be worth a shot.

Okay, then let's hear from the Oregon Symphony's side of the story, or is that too much to ask at this point in the current situation?

Tommyboy,

You can't possibly ask Charles Noble to comment on a situation within his orchestra, without putting his job at risk, his orchestra or his relationship with his fellow musicians.

Probably best that you follow the news stories out of Oregon and draw your own conclusions.

When it is resolved, perhaps people from the symphony (musicians or admins) will post anonymously to this forum and provide more insight... but I wouldn't count on it.

Paul Barrett posted a very lengthy and worthwile post on his blog on myauditions.

I wonder why the metrics for orchestras are so different and would think that most orchestras would share their processes with others to help better to streamline the way musicians are fired.

Is history repeating itself from the bygone days of Von Karajan and Toscanini with conductors of today now excerting more totalitarian control and musicians just not getting in the way for fear of losing their job?

Ken,

Since it is obvious that Dawn has made her position public, I would imagine that it puts the union in a difficult position to support her during arbitration.

I wonder if she consulted colleagues and the union before making her position public.

Musician loses appeal to retain job

A symphony panel supports music director Carlos Kalmar's decision to dismiss Dawn Weiss

Saturday, May 21, 2005
DAVID STABLER

Dawn Weiss, the Oregon Symphony's principal flute player, has lost her appeal to keep her job as head of the orchestra's flute section. A panel of three symphony musicians and three symphony managers voted Thursday to uphold music director Carlos Kalmar's decision to let Weiss go at the end of this season.

Neither Weiss nor symphony officials would comment on the decision.

For Weiss, the decision likely ends a 27-year relationship with the Oregon Symphony, 25 of them as principal flute.

Last month, Weiss, 53, said that if she lost the appeal, she would file a grievance alleging age discrimination with the Equal Opportunity Commission. She also might file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, asserting the local musicians' union did not do its job in defending her position, said Ken Shirk, the union's secretary-treasurer.

The process to dismiss Weiss began in October when Kalmar informed her that her playing was unacceptable and he planned not to renew her contract at the end of the season. Under terms of her contract, Weiss had six months to improve, after which Kalmar would decide if she could stay or go.

Weiss applied herself to improving, but in April she learned that her efforts weren't enough. She then appealed the decision, which resulted in Thursday's vote.

"I was disappointed," said Shirk, who informed Weiss of the decision just before a symphony rehearsal Thursday morning. Weiss, who was scheduled to perform in the orchestra's season finale this weekend, left the hall when she learned the news. She also missed Friday's rehearsal, making it unlikely that she will play the concerts.

"What happens next is in Dawn's hands," Shirk said. "I have no idea what her prospects would be."

The symphony says that Weiss' dismissal is the first in 27 years.

It is so unfortunate something like this has happened. The Oregon Symphony closes out it's season over this weekend with Mahler 5 (my personal favorite) and I wonder if Weiss will be in attendance for her final concert.

If it were me, I certainly would not want to ever step foot in the Arlene Schnitzer
Concert Hall again.

Perhaps she will teach at the local university, Summer festivals, give recitals and join a chamber ensemble.

But, I wonder if the stigma of losing her job in Oregon will hinder her chances of securing new opportunities.

Also, does anyone thing she would consider attending auditions for other orchestras?

I was hoping that some of the pros on these forums would chime in and offer their opinion on the firing but understandably, no one will touch it with a ten foot pole.

quote:

posted May 22, 2005 07:39 PM
Perhaps she will teach at the local university, Summer festivals, give recitals and join a chamber ensemble.
But, I wonder if the stigma of losing her job in Oregon will hinder her chances of securing new opportunities.
Also, does anyone thing she would consider attending auditions for other orchestras?
Forrester "Mac" McNeil

It's awfully difficult for anyone to chime in about this when we don't know the person, the playing, or anything else related to this dilemna for ourselves. Having said that, in reply to Mac, if I worked for an orchestra, festival etc, I probably would be most interested to hear Ms. Weiss, and, if her playing stood up for our needs, I'd be happy to make sure she was in the mix for consideration. I would imagine also, that there are many sympathetic people out there that would feel the same--her name is now somewhat of a celebrity, which might also be to her benefit at this time too. Music is a funny business--name recognition means alot. Many people feel bad about the situation, even if they haven't heard the playing. Again, if the playing is on the level of the organization she would be applying to, it would be up to those that decide if hiring her is in the cards. The publicity might be to her advantage. It could also be turned into a success story for the next organization that hires her--so many things can come from this. Most importantly, we all probably share in that we wish Ms. Weiss luck, good health and happiness to see her through this situation and onto her future as a flutist. It reminds me of when my friend, Richard Danielpour, had finished his opera, "Margaret Garner", and one of his leads could not perform for the premiere. It made worldwide headlines. True, I am sure he felt awful about it and they needed to ensure a replacement, but I also said, 'Gee, look at all the pre-premiere publicity the opera has 'garnered' (pardon the pun) before a single note of it has been heard!' There were many critics at the world premiere. Say--just think of the pressure for the flutist assuming the no. 1 spot now.

I don't know anything about the specifics of this case, but I do have a few general comments:

In reply to Threadhead's question:

quote:

Is history repeating itself from the bygone days of Von Karajan and Toscanini with conductors of today now excerting more totalitarian control and musicians just not getting in the way for fear of losing their job?

I would suggest that this is far, far from the bygone days. This is a music director (who is ultimately responsible for managing orchestra personnel) dismissing a single musician in a very important chair, going through substantial due process, and ultimately being backed by a committee of players and managers.

Effective music directors will give feedback and encouragement to musicians, asking them to improve (or at least change) performance, and will leave the dismissal process as a last resort. It certainly can be divisive, and you would hope that the music director will be prudent in deciding which battles are worth fighting.

quote:

Originally posted by musician:
I was hoping that some of the pros on these forums would chime in and offer their opinion on the firing but understandably, no one will touch it with a ten foot pole.

I don't know if there's very much to say. Everything appears to have followed the contractually mandated artistic review process, so unless that proves to be otherwise there's not much to say at this point. I know plenty of situations in other orchestras over the years where MD's didn't follow the contractually mandated process, but those are all individual circumstances with individual issues.

However, if there was an orchestra somewhere with a MD who was continually verbally abusive without cause toward the musicians and then started writing players up on artistic review, that would have much more substance.

Drew

We probably won't hear from a member of the OR sym, but I'd like to share a quick story of a similar situation that happened in my orchestra this year.

I am the principal flutist in a small regional orchestra, where this was our second season with a new conductor. The 2nd flutist was one of his four musicians chosen for artistic non-renewal this season. Just last week I sat on the committee to hear the appeal audition. It was an extremely difficult situation and all of us on the committee felt awful about having to side with the conductor, and tell this flutist that after 30 or so years with this orchestra--in his own hometown--that his career with this group was over. Yes, this is a per-service gig, certainly nothing at the level of the OR sym--but the job meant a lot to this person and I hated being a part of the process to essentially fire him.

I wish Ms. Weiss the best of luck. Making it as a flute player is **** hard. I also wish the best of luck to the musicians of the Oregon Symphony, especially the appeals committee. What you have gone through this season must have been one of the most difficult times of your career.

Well, Charles Noble who frequents these forums and also blogs on MyAuditions is part of the audition committee but I don't think it would be appropriate for him to respond here. Too public a place to do so.

Mozart, could you outline what the process is and how they came to the decision?

quote:

Originally posted by musician:
Well, Charles Noble who frequents these forums and also blogs on MyAuditions is part of the audition committee but I don't think it would be appropriate for him to respond here. Too public a place to do so.

Just to clear up the misconception - I was not involved in the review committee that heard the appeal. I have served on many audition committees in the past, and those are entirely different animals.

The Musician asked: "Mozart, could you outline what the process is and how they came to the decision?"

Sure, I can talk about the process for my small regional/community orchestra. I think it is probably similar for other orchestras around the country. Our group adopted a Master Agreement from a template provided by the AFM (I think) a few years ago.

Here was the basic process. The new conductor couldn't make any chages his first season. At the beginning of his second season, he could send out a maximum of 4 artistic probation letters, based on the performaces of the first season. The letter basically said 'please improve on these several points in your playing or your contract will not be renewed.' The players had the whole season, up until April 1, to improve their playing. At that time the conductor sent out non-renewal letters (or if the person did improve, they would receive a renewal letter, followed by a contract for next season). Then the musician had until April 15 to decide whether to appeal the conductor's decision. The appeal audition music was to be chosen from the repertoire performed over the last two seasons (but NOT rental parts). The principal of the section picked 4 excerpts and the musician picked 4 excerpts. Then the audition occurred a few days after the final concert of the season, for the committee of 7 regular members: section principal, 3 section members of instruments in same family, the concertmaster, and two other principal players. The audition was done behind a screen to protect the identity of some of the committee members. Then we voted like in a normal audition. For the conductor's decision to be overruled, the committee would need 5 votes against the conductor, to keep the musician in the orchestra.

I think overall it was a fair and equitable process. Definitely not fun though!

For anyone interested in taking the audition, the principal flute job was posted today on myauditions.