How to Make an Orchestra (part 1.b.)

A little update: I just got off the phone with the new concertmaster of the Round Rock Symphony. It was an exciting conversation with a wonderfully talented violinist, and I am so happy this person accepted the position. Now to contact the others....

How to Make a Symphony Orchestra (part 1)

Making a symphony orchestra is difficult. A symphony orchestra is not just a large body of musicians who are trained experts who work together as a finely-oiled machine; an orchestra is also a non-profit organization. A non-profit organization is a business, and starting a business is hard work. You need to form the business. You need to incorporate the business. You need to file for IRS recognition as a not-for-profit incorporation. You need patience, an entraprenurial spirit, an address, a phone number, business cards, a website, a staff, a place to rehearse, a performance venue, a marketing plan, and a lot of business sense. You also need money.

I'm involved in the founding of the Round Rock Symphony, a brand-new professional orchestra in the Austin, TX, area. The amount of paperwork involved is staggering. The effort required to raise awareness and operating funds can suck a person's energy dry. Because an orchestra involves so many people (a few adminstrators, a board of directors, dozens and dozens of musicians, hundreds of fans, etc.), the time one must invest in communicating with everyone is absolutely shocking. But there is one daunting task that cannot be overlooked - auditioning an entire orchestra.

A small orchestra has anywhere from 18 to 30 members, and a large orchestra could have a hundred or more musicians. The Round Rock Symphony will be a medium-sized orchestra of 40-46 musicians for its first concert, but in order to hire the best 40-46 musicians in Austin, one must audition and interview hundreds of talented players.

When the formation of the Round Rock Symphony was announced, I was buried in over 250 requests for auditions. Of those requests, I was able to accommodate only 160 or so players. I had to find a venue (thank you Bachus Conservatory!) and a panel of musical experts willing to listen to auditions with me (thank you Garrett Keast, Jon Babcock, Brett Bachus, and Joseph Baird). Then I had to schedule a time to listen to each of those 160 musicians demonstrate their abilites on their instruments. The audition process took weeks to organize, but the actual auditions required 5 entire days of listeing to and interviewing musicians (9:00 am-7:30 pm). OK, listeing to well-trained musicians all day is not unpleasant - it's much easier than roofing or waiting tables - but it's still exhausting work.

I jokingly referred to this process as "Orchestra Idol," but it was in reality nothing like the TV show on which that joke was based. The Austin area is rich with talented musicians. I heard dozens of hornists, dozens of flutists, dozens of cellists, dozens of everything, all excellent musicians. As I listened to each player making beautiful music, I took careful notes, listing to the tone quality, rhythmic acuracy, intonation, articulations, dynamics, phrasing, expression, artistic interpretation, and adherence to the composer's other subtle markings. After listening to them all, I realized I had a big problem on my hands.

A week ago I wondered: "How on earth am I going to find 40-46 great musicians to play together in the Round Rock Symphony?" Today, I am wondering: "How on earth am I going to pick just 40-46 musicians?" What do I tell the other 114-120 talented players they didn't make the cut? It's a terrible dilemma, because I want to work with all of them!

Alas, I must spend the next 3 days reviewing my notes and making tough decisions, disappointing 3 musicians for each musician I accept into the ensemble. It's not fun, but the result will be a fantastic and nimble orchestra, capable of turning a bunch of little black dots on paper into soul-feeding music, the highest form of human artistic expression.

More later...