<p>Wish I had better news.</p>
<p>When my D, college sophomore, was offered a sub spot in a professional orchestra, she was so excited, she would have paid them instead of the other way around. They offered to pay travel, hotel and events. Unfortunately, because of conflicts with school orchestra rehearsals, she is unable to make the Friday night rehearsals for Saturday night performances. She was bummed.</p>
<p>Ooooo team_mom, that's really too bad. The lemonade returned to its lemon state. Surely other good things will come her way.</p>
<p>team_mom- That is unfortunate as a number of schools do have some fairly flexible criteria for performance majors. One way around it is to drop the performing organization committment from the school schedule once all the necessary degree requirements have been met as she nears graduation.</p>
<p>If a pro orchestra chair is in her career goals, it may make sense doing something along those lines if the sub work is "guaranteed" and she has been given specific dates and services.</p>
<p>It's just something to keep in the back of her mind. The professional experience on a resume is a big plus. And university orchestra directors can be amazingly flexible if they realize they may be loosing a valued player for a semester or year.</p>
<p>Be careful about dropping the performance commitment if you are getting scholarship money. Sometimes participation in the school orchestra is a requirement for continuation of the scholarship, even after all degree requirements have been met.</p>
<p>And check your degree requirements carefully. DS's required him to be in a performance ensemble ALL 8 semesters. Orchestra rehearsed on Fridays. You had to find a sub if you missed rehearsal. He missed more than 3 for auditions his last semester and while the director excused him, his grade (believe it or not) was reduced due to the three absences.</p>
<p>I really don't understand schools that don't accommodate students who get professional gigs. After all, that is what they are in school FOR! At Juilliard, it is a give and take situation. Students who have a regular, ongoing performance commitment have been known to arrange for that to be in lieu of their school performance requirement (although that's been at the graduate level the few times I can think of it happening). S has had to miss orchestra rehearsals only a couple of times - he had to contact the orchestra manager, and make arrangements for a sub. He is not allowed to miss a dress rehearsal. And a certain number of absences lowers his grade. The lowered grade is one he shrugs off. As far as I know, no one ever lost a professional audition because they got a B in orchestra.</p>
<p>He is allowed to miss only a certain number of other classes per semester. Apparently there is an ongoing problem with students missing classes to take gigs. But I think the absentee policy is fairly generous. And they do not have regular rehearsals on Friday nights! That scheduling leaves me shaking my head! Even if they don't have gigs, these are college students - surely they have other things to do on Friday evenings?</p>
<p>You would think!</p>
<p>No, I'm pretty sure her scholarship is contingent upon her playing in the orchestra each semester. Additionally, she spoke to her conductor who told her she would have to accept a sub opportunity closer to home, if she needed to play on a Friday. That's pretty clear. I can't quibble because her school orchestra is truly extraordinary and they give her wonderful opportunities. If she gets this chance at 19, with another 2+ years to go, she will probably get other opprtunities too.</p>
<p>My son is in grad school. They encourage the students to audition for orchestras and gigs. And they are very accommodating. The only thing DS tells me he can't miss is orchestra dress and concerts. As a grad student, most of his classes are instrument based (orchestra, chamber music, studio class, instrument lessons, jazz ensemble, and a music career class of some sort). He has gotten two orchestral substitute selections for small regional orchestras near his school (and has actually been called), and is finding a lot of gig playing opportunities. His teacher has also found him some. I think that this is the norm for grad students...at least I would hope so!! It's nice for him as it's giving him playing experience, making contacts for him in the region, and earning him some much needed cash.</p>
<p>Somehow, our son managed to have NO classes on Fridays, both last year and this year, this senior undergrad year.
That's made it easy for him to pick up some professional gigs requiring Fri day or eve rehearsals for Sat eve gig. If there's a conflict with school, he's not letting us know about it. Unlikely he'd pass on the performing opportunities. I think his school would accomodate reasonable absences.
His prof at school has sent him as a sub several times to area gigs.
Son loves the opportunity (and the $$).</p>
<p>Talk about mixed emotions. The person who won the audition I wrote about has turned it down, so they offered it to S. He has also turned it down as of today. The schedule is just a bit too much to handle while simultaneously finishing school. Cannot justify dropping out of school this close to graduation. He felt really bad about it. (Remember, he didn't realize it was for THIS year when he auditioned, or he wouldn't have taken the audition.) Of course, it is a bit thrilling to get his first professional offer - but part of my stomach whispers "What if it's his last????" </p>
<p>He talked with his teacher first, who felt this was the right thing to do. He is hoping they will let him sub a few times. (He has already agreed to sub in a couple weeks.)</p>
<p>I am hoping this positive result will translate into some confidence for his next audition.</p>
<p>Might they be willing to hold the position for a year, using subs in the meanwhile? Depending on how good the third place and later auditions turned out, it is possible that the orchestra would prefer that approach to having to go even further down the list or holding yet another set of auditions. Has your son tried offering this as a possibility?</p>
<p>It was only a one year position. They are holding regular auditions later this year to fill it permanently.</p>
<p>Ah, now I remember that you did say that earlier. Does he plan to audition for them again later this year?</p>
<p>I don't think he's thought that far. He has a couple other auditions planned, as well as a couple grad school auditions. Hopefully we'll have a chance over Thanksgiving to pick his brain about what he's thinking, and what his priorities are. I think certain orchestras would trump grad school, but certain grad schools might trump other orchestras.</p>
<p>He's got a couple more auditions soon, so he's not real talkative. Becomes very focused before auditions, and it's hard to discuss long-range plans with him then.</p>
<p>Oh Binx...I think this is exciting news. Really!! If they are still having your son as a sub they must have been mighty impressed with his playing. THAT is great!! No it won't be his last success.</p>
<p>If nothing else, he did do well enough to be the number 2, and was offered the job after the winner declined. I don't think they'll hold it against him for not accepting the position seeing he is still in school, and will probably be quite happy to have him on the sublist.</p>
<p>For a musician still in school, or just starting out, taking the auditon is part of the process and I'm pretty sure the orchestras, particularly the smaller ones, realize this.</p>
<p>binx wrote: "I think certain orchestras would trump grad school, but certain grad schools might trump other orchestras."</p>
<p>I think that's the right mentality to have at this point and it's the same premise my son is operating under.</p>
<p>Here's to many more successes.</p>
<p>Son got his renewal contract for the regional chair he won last September. He now is tenured. Now if he had four or five more similar chairs (with non-conflicting schedules) he just might get above the poverty level.</p>
<p>Congratulation to Violadad...son.</p>
<p>Way to go, Violadad's son!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>