Where they went to school

binx · 02-19-2008, 09:47 PM

Someone on one of the threads wondered about how to find out who was winning jobs these days. I did a little digging on the MyAuditions website, and pulled up a few of the recent (past 6 months or so) hires. Note that most of these folks were "moving up" from lesser orchestras, and were not brand new graduates. I only listed folks here when the school was also listed. Please feel free to add to the list as you hear.

LA Phil 1/9/08
violist Carrie Dennis - Curtis

Phil O 11/18/07 3 violinists
William Polk - LSU, UMinn
Noah Geller, Juilliard
Amy Oshiro, Oberlin, Juilliard

Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra 10/30/07
violin - Gared Crawford - Northwestern
violin - Mae Lin - Juilliard
viola - Craig Bate - acting Principal - Juilliard, Indiana U
cello -Kevin Bate - DePauw, Indiana
harp - Megan Stout, Indiana
percussion - William Shaltis - Michigan State, Boston Cons.

NY Phil, 10/27/07
horn - Thomas Joestlein, Rice.
cello - Wei Yu - Northwestern, Juilliard

Colorado S 10/5/07
violin - David Waldman - Indiana, Northwestern
horn - Kevin Rivard [website doesn't say, but he went to Juilliard]
percussion - Steve Hearn - UNew Mexico, New Mexico State, Rotterdam Cons (Netherlands)

Southwest Florida S 10/5/07
violin - Hannah Cho - UToronto
violin - Danut Nuresan - Lynn Univ (Boca Raton, FL)
horn - Gene Berger - FSU, SMU
cello - Susannah Kelly - Eastman, USouth Fla

Grand Rapids S
percussion - Shannon Wood - UMich, Temple

St Louis S
violin - Shawn Weil - Indiana
violin - John MacFarlane - Northwestern, UMD
horn - Jessica Valeri - UWisc-Madison, Northwestern

Cosmos · 02-19-2008, 10:06 PM

Bass Players ---

1998:
Oregon Symph - Jason Schooler (CCM)
Minnesota - Matthew Frischman (Curtis)

1999:
Louisville Orch - Kingsley Wood (Peabody)
Houston Symph - Ali Yazdanfar (Peabody, Rice)
NY Phil - David Grossman (Juilliard)
Colorado Symph - Jonathan Burnstein (Rice)
Charleston Symph - Charles Barr (Curtis)
New Mexico Symph - Kathy Olszowka (IU)
San Antonio Symph - Zlatan Redzic (IU)

2000:
Kansas City Symph - Ju Fang Liu (IK)
Buffalo Phil - Edmond Gnekow (IU)
Columbus Symph - Jena Huebner (Peabody)
Cleveland Orch - Charles Carleton (Juilliard, Curtis)

2001:
Met Opera - Kingsley Wood (Peabody)
Alabama Symph - Long Luo (Juilliard)
Louisville Orch - Karl Olsen (IU, U Wisconsin)

2002:
Charleston Symph - Scott Pingel (MSM)
Oregon Symph - Paul DeNola (IU, USC)

2003:
Indianapolis Symph - Ju Fang Liu (IU)
Boston Symph - Ben Levy (Rice, NEC)
Calgary Phil - Jeff White (IU)
Grant Park Orch - Andy Anderson (IU)
Louisiana Phil - Colin Corner (IU)
NY Phil - Satoshi Okamoto (Juilliard)
San Diego Symph - Jeremy Kurtz (Curtis, Rice)

2004:
San Antonio Symph - Doug Balliet (Harvard)
Louisville Orch - Burt Witzel (Curtis)

2005:
Milwaukee Symph - Zach Cohen (Juilliard)
St Louis Symph - Sarah Hogan (IU, Rice) and David DeRiso (Rice)
Grand Rapids Symph - Joe Conyers (Curtis)
Met Opera - Dan Krekler (IU, MSM, U Minnesota)
Seattle Symph - Joe Kauffman (UNT)
National Symph - Ira Gold (BU?)

2006:
Minnesota Orch - Fora Baltacigil (Curtis)
Nashville Symph - Kristen Bruya (CCM, Rice)
Toronto Symph - Jeff Beecher (Curtis)
San Diego Symph - Travis Gore (CCM, Rice), Sam Hagen (USC, IU)

2007:
Buffalo Phil - Dan Pendley (CCM)
Colorado Symph - Karl Fenner (CCM, Rice)
Montreal Symph - Peter Rosenfeld (MSM or Juilliard)
Kitchener-Waterloo - Ian Whittman (McGill, Yale, NEC)

... Detroit is having its 4th try for principal auditions this year. NY Phil is having a 2nd try, as is Seattle.

team_mom · 02-19-2008, 10:35 PM

Binx, what a great idea!

Thanks Cosmos and Binx, and anyone else who adds to this...

violadad · 02-20-2008, 07:25 AM

that once a position has been won, accepted and the acceptance confirmed by the orchestra, the information then becomes common knowledge, and available to all.

If by any chance you have info about pro audition results (friends, peers, "found" information) often available on instrument specific boards, please do not post names until the appointment is official.

An audition winner may chose NOT to take a position, for any number of reasons. Often, an auditioner is already in one orchestra, and for whatever reason has auditioned as a "give it a shot", or for more experience, and may or may not decide to leave their current position. As such, having a name mentioned in a public forum as having won Podunk Phil principal may cause an untenable situation within a current contracted situation.

In this type of case, its always best to let the winner or appointing orchestra make the announcement, not the friend of a friend.

Would you want your boss to know you're changing jobs without telling them firsthand?

This is not an admonishment to any who have posted, but a caveat for those who may not know all the intracacies involved.

Additionally, there are current students and grads here actively auditioning. If you suspect a connection with a current poster, PLEASE be considerate as this information may identify one of our own. Those that want to share actual names do so at their discretion.

binx · 02-20-2008, 07:42 AM

Good points, violadad. Yes, my list was taken from press releases, and I assume Cosmo's list was also taken from a public source. The point of the list is not to "out" posters, but to get a sense of schooling.

Just a reminder, if someone happens to post your kid's name, and you don't want it there, you can always "Report Problem Post" and ask the mods to delete it.

Cosmos · 02-20-2008, 12:51 PM

Not to worry, my list is from a bass online forum called talkbass.com - there's a thread there that lists who wins jobs throughout the year.

Anyway, onto more illustrious bassists --

Boston Symphony section
Ed Barker (principal) - NEC
Larry Wolfe (assistant) - NEC
Ben Levy - NEC
Dennis Roy - NEC
Joseph Hearne - Juilliard
Jim Orleans - IU, Boston Conservatory
Todd Seeber - BU
John Stovall - UT, transferred to NEC

Chicago Symphony section
Joe Guastafeste (principal) - Juilliard
Dan Armstrong - Juilliard
Roger Cline - Juilliard, U Michigan
Joe DiBello - University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Rob Kassinger - MSM, Juilliard, IU
Brad Opland - Curtis

Met Opera
Tim Cobb (principal) - Curtis
Leigh Mesh (associate principal) - SUNY Purchase, Curtis
Jeremy McCoy (assistant) - Curtis
Dan Krekler - MSM, Yale, IU
Rest of the section - ??

NY Phil Section
Eugene Levinson - Leningrad Conservatory
John Deak - Juilliard, Oberlin, U of Illinois, Fulbright scholar at Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome
Orin O'Brien - Juilliard
Randall Butler - current PhD candidate at Columbia
David Grossman - Juilliard
Satoshi Okamoto - Juilliard, Tokyo University of Fine Arts
Michele Saxon - Juilliard

Baltimore Symph section
Robert Barney (principal) - Peabody
Hampton Childress (assistant) - University of Montana
Arnold Gregorian - Peabody
Mark Huang - Peabody, Curtis
Jonathan Jensen - Northwestern
David Sheets - Eastman
Eric Stahl - Northwestern

Philly Orchestra section
Hal Robinson (principal) - Northwestern, Peabody
Michael Shahan (assistant) - Curtis
Neil Courtney - Eastman
John Hood - U Michigan
Emilio Gravgano - DePaul, Curtis
Henry Scott - Eastman, Rochester
David Fay - Eastman, Royal Academy of Music, U Michigan
Duane Rosengard - CIM
Robert Kesselman - Curtis, Temple

cartera45 · 02-26-2008, 11:58 AM

Background of the current Met winners --

North Carolina School of the Arts
Southeastern Louisiana University/in grad school at Univ. of Arizona
Webster University / in grad school at Rice
Oberlin/ in grad school at Yale
1 from Canada - UBC I think

This was also the youngest group of winners - ever, I think.

binx · 02-26-2008, 01:00 PM

Here is a great article about the competition:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/ar...ts&oref=slogin

Quote:

The affable host, the soprano Patricia Racette, tried to lessen the tension with a series of bad soprano jokes: “What’s the difference between a soprano and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.”

But the most valuable information she shared with the contestants is that in 1988, when she entered the auditions, she made it only to the semifinals. Now she is singing leading roles in her 13th consecutive season at the Met.

lorelei2702 · 02-26-2008, 02:04 PM

Re the MET auditions...notice the lack of winners from the name schools and conservatories, no NEC, no Juilliard, no CCM, no Indiana, this year. It is happening in the provinces, i.e. outstanding voice teaching and fine talents being nurtured. These young singers are getting good experience, and all the repertory listed is quite sensible for the ages, no "young" Verdi and Puccini sopranos, no 20's dramatic mezzos. Good to see (and hear!)