Any news?

As of last night, there were only 5 finalists, Rachel Stegman from Wheeling symphony, two girls called Sylvia and Christina (I think....sorry if I have names/spellings vaguely wrong), and then two invited finalists from the second violin section, Sarah Blomquist and Jennifer Orchard. Jen Orchard is assistant principal second so why she'd want to go from a titled position to a section position is a mystery to me.
I'll know the results when I go in to work this morning...will keep you posted
Other audition info - they had LOTS of Resumes, but only 72 people actually auditioned - which is still a lot I suppose, but given the caliber of the orchestra and the fact that there are multiple positions open, why do you think there were so many cancellations? If anyone has any thoughts....

Emma:
"Other audition info - they had LOTS of Resumes, but only 72 people actually auditioned - which is still a lot I suppose, but given the caliber of the orchestra and the fact that there are multiple positions open, why do you think there were so many cancellations? If anyone has any thoughts...."

My guess would be that the excerpt list was too extensive. Some people who sent in their resume earlier may be wasn't expecting a huge list, but then after the list came out they got scared.

Maybe it wasn't a factor in this audition but I would think in upcoming ones the rising cost of airfare and gas will be a factor. Those people that take every audition will now have to pick and choose and those that could barely afford to take a few a year will now be limiting their auditions to those that are driveable.

And the winners are.....

Sylvia Kim, Kristina Yoder, and Jennifer Orchard. Keep an eye out though, because there will likely be another audition at some point as there are still vacancies.

congrats to the winners!

Another thing I'd love feedback on - in the Pittsburgh audition the screen comes down in the semifinals. Considering there were a lot of known subs, and 2 internal candidates, shouldn't they keep the screen up a bit longer? What other orchestras do this?

FYI: probably another audition in the fall. At least one more vacancy to fill.

Here in Phoenix we take the screen down in the semifinals. As an auditionee, I liked that; it's nice to play for real people rather than a screen.

Bravo for Sylvia Kim!
A fine addition to PSO with her artistry and discipline from being the concert mistress of the Curtis Orchestra during last year.
A heart-felt congrats!

Hi Emma - will you be in town soon? Anyway, to answer your question, in my experience, especially with larger orchestras, is that if there is an internal candidate or a substitute with a temp-contract in the finals - the screen stays up!

As re: the large number of cancellations - the list was huge and while familiar, definitely not standard. I know a number of people who decided not to come because of that.

go sylvia!!