Ok, I just want to get anyone's experiences with the Charlotte Symphony auditions. I've read previous posts about it, but I welcome more comments.

1. Are all rounds behind a screen or do they take the screen down in the final round, even if there's a local?

2. Do they tend to favor locals or musicians already playing there?

3. One jury/one hall?

4. Anything else...

Thanks,
violas

Hello,
I have considered posting a message about Charlotte for a long time especially after all of the comments made concerning last year's flute audition (almost all of which were laughable they were so far off base!) To answer yours: all rounds are held behind a screen. Locals are not favored and when locals have won positions the committee had no idea it was that person until after the decision was made and the curtain came down. Of course I use the word "local" loosely- these musicians have come from other smaller orchestras or top-notch music schools to fill temporary vacancies or per-service needs. Whether or not the jury is split depends on the schedule of the hall and time constraints. In that case only the first round would be split. How many rounds there are depends on how many people advance. At the last flute audition there were only two rounds before the committee decided that they didn't feel anyone was right for the position. I took only ten or eleven auditions before I got a position in Charlotte and a few since I've been here (with some of the biggest orchestral institutions in the country) and I can honestly say that it was one of the most fair and well-run auditions I have ever participated in. I was very upset to read posts in which angry auditioners speculated about what was going on behind the screen. As a concerned member of this organization I want you to feel confident that we are only looking for the best candidate possible. We judge fairly.

One clarification:

There is a policy in place (like the one mentioned in Buffalo and elsewhere) which allows members of our AF of M local to automatically play in the second round. The main result of this is that people who have won or been appointed for temporary contracts would be automatic semi-finalists when the permanent audition rolls around.

As mentioned above, the screen does indeed stay up for EVERY round, including finals.

The split committee thing is another policy that I hate, but we seem to have to deal with it, since we don't own our hall. Again, if it happens that there's enough applicants to warrant a split committee, it would only be for the preliminary round.