Composer Auditions: Part 2 – How?

| Sep 29, 2015 |

As described in Part 1 of this blog post, the process of selecting contemporary music for orchestras has been top-down, leaving orchestra members powerless, audiences frustrated, and all but a few composers out in the cold. What can we do to fix a system that is broken? I believe we can learn much from the way orchestra members are selected.

The process for choosing orchestra members has come a long way in the last 50-100 years. The decision used to be made solely by the conductor. As an example, when I auditioned for my first job I played for a committee of one: the conductor. However, due to a number of abuses over the years, auditions have become much fairer and more controlled. These days there are certain rules and regulations that are followed. There is an audition committee, including orchestra members, that usually handles the opening rounds of an audition; those opening rounds are frequently held behind a screen to assure fairness; in the final round the committee has a certain percentage of the vote and the music director the other percentage; and so forth.

The process isn’t perfect, but it gives a voice to the members of the orchestra and assures a measure of fairness to those who audition. I believe a similar process could be used for selecting new music. Here is my proposal, which makes use of some ideas proposed by the American composer Stanley Friedman:

An orchestra could hold composer auditions once or twice a year to determine at least some of the new music to be played in future seasons. The process could be managed by an audition committee that includes orchestra members and could be similar to the process for instrumental auditions. An announcement would be made, and interested composers could submit a score along with parts. (If too many composers applied, the committee could ask for tapes to determine who would be invited to the first round.) As Friedman has suggested, composers would be asked to send two scores, one with a name attached and one without a name. The score without a name would be given to the orchestra to assure anonymity.

In the first round, each piece could get a five- to ten-minute performance during special rehearsals, after which the committee would vote to decide which scores would advance to the second sound. The second round would include a larger portion of the composer’s submitted work, and afterward another vote would be taken to choose perhaps three finalists. All these finalists would be guaranteed a performance, and the winner could get a commission from the orchestra. In the final round, as with instrumental auditions, the voting would be divided between the orchestra members, the music director, and the artistic administrator if there is one.

But I have a suggestion for an additional step in selecting new music. Using this step, I believe composer auditions could be used to help to create a new model for symphony orchestras and their relationship with tomorrow’s audiences.