[Trombone-l] Cleveland Orch Trombone Article in newspaper

[james meador]

Doug and list,

For me, this search is borderline ludicrous.  First, I've heard Steve Witser 
play, and he is more than capable of handling that job, and very well.  He's 
been playing there since 1989, so he is not fresh meat, so it seems he is 
not the best option for a 'new' conductor trying to make a splash in the 
American scene.  For that matter, Rick Stout is a worthy candidate.  For 
that matter, most of the people who have sat down to play in that orchestra 
would be excellent choices.  No one will argue the abilities of Doug Wright, 
yet he was not offered tenure either.  Other fantastic trombone players 
simply turned down the opportunity to audition with the orchestra due to his 
history with rewarding tenure.

This is not the first time this has happened in Cleveland with Franz 
Welser-Most.  In fact, no one has earned tenure from him since he arrived 5 
years ago.  He put the crunch on several people who gave up jobs to go there 
after winning their respective auditions but then did not earn tenure from 
him.  At least two of them were past their leave dates, so they did not have 
jobs to go back to.

Welser-Most is just trying to stir up trouble in the orchestra scene.  
Rumors have it that he wants someone with a 'European' sound.  Well, if 
that's what he wants he should go back to Europe.  He has put a muzzle on 
Cleveland Orchestra.  They never sounded as good as when guest conductors 
came in (the notables were Pierre Boulez, Michael Stern, Neeme and Paavo 
Yarvi).  When Welser-Most conducts, they usually sound lifeless and small, 
contained if you will.  When the guests come through and they are actually 
allowed to express themselves, they sound as good as any orchestra I've ever 
heard.

There is a reason his nickname in Europe is Franz Worst-than-Most.

Just my opinion.

James

======================
James N. Meador, Bass Trombone
Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán
+52-999-221-5845 cell
+52-999-195-1144 home
jamesmeador at hotmail.com



From: Moran, Doug <morand at denison.edu>
To: Bone List <trombone-l at samford.edu>
Subject: [Trombone-l] Cleveland Orch Trombone Article in newspaper
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:48 AM
Someone sent me this link this morning to an article on the Cleveland  
Orchestra principal trombone job:

<http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/ 
entertainment-0/117990979084830.xml&coll=2>

The "patience" of the folks involved with filling this position (that I  
read between the lines) is interesting.  Are there any other views on  this 
2 year so far activity that you are aware of?  I agree that it is  important 
to do these auditions correctly.

In the past 25 years or so that I've been "aware" of the U.S. orchestra  
audition process, it has changed quite a bit.

Doug
morand at denison.edu