Financial pressures plague us all these days. No matter where we live or what we do, the world inflation and energy cost spiral is affecting everyone. In our field of music, certain types of employment are affected more seriously than others. I am thinking primarily of public school music teachers and university music teachers. But I know that free-lancing musicians in large cities (New York for example) are finding their work opportunities reduced as money becomes tighter. Symphony orchestras seem to be "holding their own," although the large and long-awaited salary increases of a few years ago are now levelling off. There is certainly a big question about present salaries' capacity to keep up with the cost of living.

I feel a need to discuss with my colleagues a very real money problem shared by a multitude of serious young musicians -- the large cost of travelling to auditions for orchestral positions.

As many of us know through experience the actual playing of an orchestral audition is sometimes less of a problem to accomplish well than is the communications hassle involved in arranging for an invitation to play, and then the time-consuming and expensive flight to the audition site. (I once flew to an audition on a travelling day of one orchestra tour, played the audition before noon, drove a rented car 100 miles to the nearest connecting airport, then flew via two air lines and three stops to the concert location of my touring orchestra and arrived at the concert hall just a few minutes before "the downbeat.")

Many musicians fly from one end of the continent to another to participate in important auditions -- occasionally complaining (justly) that they were given under 10 minutes to actually play. Of course, only one person can be selected for each open position, so many fine players who have made this travel at expense of time and money, are required to audition again (and again) until finally a post is achieved - or some alternative employment is found.

However, there are two "hidden" factors which make many auditions even more of a risk than they seem. In the case of one of them, all too commonly observed, the time and money of many applicants have been absolutely wasted. This is in my opinion a pity and an extremely unfair situation: the audition for a "non-existent" job, or the audition played after the position has already been filled by another player. The other factor, more difficult to discover but also common to some orchestras, is the "quickie" audition or the "closed shop" audition to which only a special few musicians are invited. The "quickie" audition is an audition arranged for at a time less than 30 days after an ad for the position appears in the Union magazine, The International Musician. Some orchestras even avoid placing ads for openings in the International Musician. Also there is a practice by some orchestras of listing advertisements for positions which "may" or may not be open (depending on the success of the present player of the position who has played an audition for another orchestra and is waiting for a decision from that orchestra) - but the advertisement lists the post as definitely open.

I hope most musicians will agree with me that we need reform badly - and we need a fair and equitable standard for all auditions. I welcome your letters to the Editor on this subject; we can discuss the problem in these pages. BUT, I think that the only way to accomplish a fairer audition situation is for many of us to take the matter directly and personally to our various local Union officers and also to the Officers of the A.F M. in New York and in Toronto.

I will state a few guidelines which I feel are a step in the right direction - but first, I would like to mention that many orchestras do hold very fair auditions and may easily serve as models for the less just orchestras. I suggest that each orchestra musician reading this editorial review the audition procedure of his or her orchestra and determine whether, the orchestra's practices can be termed "reasonable and fair" - that is the practical goal I would like to see reached. If not, write to me about it or talk it over with your local A. F. of M. representatives.

1. When an "opening" occurs (a player informs his orchestra that he will not renew for the next season, or the formal notice of non-renewal is given to a non-tenured player) the other members of that orchestra's section involved should have the first opportunity for advancement to the vacated post. These musicians should have a week or so to apply for the position and to prepare for the first audition. (The Toronto Symphony has this provision in its contract, for example.)

2. If no player of the orchestra should qualify, the orchestra management should place its advertisement in the International Musician - without fail - at this time. (Some conservative players would argue that the ad should be withheld until auditions for local members have been held. Here, I think the orchestra managements would be at a disadvantage, because there is quite a time lag before their ad appears in The International Musician, and because they should wait an additional 30 days after that before holding open auditions. If a local member wins the position in the local auditions, the orchestra can so notify all waiting outside applicants that the position has been filled.)

3. The local union office should have received official word of the vacancy as soon as it occurred. The union should now inform all local members playing the instrument under consideration that a vacancy exists. (Different local unions handle this notification in various ways: a) telephone calls within the city and nearby area, b) a notice placed on the union office call board, c) announcement in the monthly local union paper, d) notification by mail to out-of-town members, etc.) There is a limited time available to local members to apply for the second audition. for local members only. I recommend to all players wishing to be notified of possible vacancies in the orchestra of their home local, when they are residing temporarily or permanently in another city or country, that they send a letter of request to their home local union office, to be kept on file with a current address.

3-A. When the local members' audition is held, the union office should insist that no other auditions be held on the same day. There is a convenient practice by which some orchestras schedule local members' auditions in the morning and then hear outside applicants in the afternoon. This is less time-consuming for the audition panel and music director, but it is highly prejudicial to all the auditioning musicians. First, there is a distinct psychological disadvantage for the local members in being compared with musicians from other cities. Secondly, in the event that a local musician is awarded the position, if players from outside have been scheduled later in the same day they will have wasted all their time and travel expense . . . and in most cases it will be too late for the orchestra to notify them in time for them to cancel their travel plans. Local members should be auditioned on a day reserved for them and then should be advised immediately whether they qualify for the position.

4. If no qualified applicant is found at the local members' audition, the third audition may be scheduled. This is usually called the "open audition" because it is open to all applicants who are members of the American Federation of Musicians in the U.S.A. and Canada. I favor the following procedures to ensure efficient auditions with a minimum chance of time lost in listening to unqualified applicants, yet providing a reasonable and fair hearing for all potential candidates for the position:

• a. In the ad placed in the International Musician the orchestra should state the actual and bona fide position to be filled (or if conditions warrant, "a POSSIBLE opening in instrument"), and it should stipulate that, ''qualified applicants please write -" or "auditions will be held in (month) by invitation only after receipt of resume." This allows the orchestra to invite reasonably experienced players and those young players whose list of student accomplishments indicates a high achievement level.
• b. If a qualified musician living a great distance from the city of audition (for example, New York and Los Angeles) asks to send a preliminary tape recording of his performance, the tape should be accepted. Often music directors will be too busy to listen to preliminary tapes, but I am sure that woodwind section leaders (in the case of bassoon auditions for example) would be willing to listen to the tapes and advise the orchestra whether to invite the applying musician. I feel that this little-used procedure could save many musicians a costly air fare, or could conversely indicate - by acceptance - a more favorable chance for a successful audition.
• c. I favor the one-day open audition whenever possible even though it frequently creates insurmountable scheduling problems for players of some orchestras who wish to attend. The biggest single reason for the one-day audition is that a true comparison between competing musicians can be made. When two or more sets of auditions are held, it is very hard to remember characteristics of the best players of the first day. However, a modern trend is to hold more than one day of auditions when it is necessary and to invite back the best player or players from the first audition day (expenses paid by the orchestra management).
• d. The practice of holding preliminary auditions and final auditions is a good one when it is well-planned. Each player who performs should be allowed ample time to demonstrate his skills and artistic sensitivity. He or she should be permitted to play a solo composition prepared in advance in addition to a well-selected range from the standard orchestral literature. Some orchestras require the players to be screened away from the view of the audition panel during the preliminary part of the audition. This reduces, by some degree, the possibility of personal prejudices (such as the sex or age of the applicants or - in favor - the graduates of "such and such" school) from exerting a great influence on the audition's outcome. The final portion of all auditions should be held on an open stage. I would never want to be hired solely on the basis of my performance behind a screen. Some how that seems too impersonal, cold, and certainly not in keeping with artistic aims.
• e. Finally, when a successful candidate has been chosen, I urge orchestra managements to notify all of the waiting candidates of the result of the audition. I feel that this is a small courtesy to repay all the time, effort and travel required of each musician who participated in the auditions.

I hope you do not mind the unusual length of this editorial. I know that the subject is relevant to many of us, and I hope that this editorial will stimulate good letters of response, and in some cases perhaps some needed reforms initiated at the musicians' union level. Good practicing, and here is to fairer opportunities for deserving musicians to be heard and to be hired.

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