I have a few suggestions that will help the confidence issue.

The Sydney Opera Orchestra has an interesting process for auditions. They select a few finalists based on results from behind a screen, then the finalists do a trial week with the orchestra and play a full recital for the members of the orchestra. The orchestra then votes – it’s a much better process than trying to make a decision based on a few excerpts. It’s not perfect of course but it’s better than what you’ve got going now.

Saying a screened audition yielded no results – at the NY Phil, of all places, where you’ll certainly get any number of outstanding players – gives the rest of us in the audition circuit the sense that you have someone (or a few someones) already in mind for the position. After the FARCE in Chicago last year (which I did not attend) you’d think that attempts would be made to have a clean audition.

If you’re going to have an audition, then have it screened from start to finish, give the top three finishers a trial week, and have them play a recital for the orchestra. If you can’t find anyone, try again until you do. Otherwise, announce that you’re going drop the process entirely and simply appoint people. Having it both ways is what undermines everyone’s confidence in the audition process.

Two other points. All candidates should be allowed to record their own auditions, and committee comments should ALWAYS be made available to auditioning candidates in the weeks following an audition. There is absolutely no good reason to block comments – If we fly across the country and don’t advance, we should know why, and you’ll get better results in future auditions as a result.

Thank you so very much for sharing your warm and eloquent words about Zarin Mehta.

He is and was, also in Canada at the OSM, – Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a true visionary in bringing the orchestra to the people and people to the orchestra; (and not just in Montreal).

I, as a young General Manager of a regional Canadian Orchestra, benefited from his wisdom, vision and quite frankly his “panache”, by Zarin asking me to join him in bringing the OSM to perform in a large auditorium, (acoustically less than desirable), at a University so that 5000+ people in this community could enjoy the experience.

Our orchestra also benefitted from the experience as it was a part of our annual corporate fundraising campaign; thank you to the Bank of Montreal that stepped up to the plate and this was also Mr. Mehta’s visionary expertise too!

I treasure the time I spent being mentored by Mr. Zarin Mehta, and, indeed it is truly an honor to have met him, worked and collaborated with him at this sell out concert!

Enjoy the rest of your time with Zarin Mehta, it will continue to be fruitful, of this I am most sure.

Susan Weiss