April, 1998
Bruce Roberts was given tenure on third horn, thus ending the third horn saga, and opening the utility horn slot for an audition. Click here for the results of that audition.
July 7, 1997
Michael Tilson Thomas has awarded the third horn job to Bruce Roberts, our former Assistant Principal. We are all very happy with the choice, since Bruce has done the job wonderfully for the last 5 seasons. This means that when Bruce gets tenure in his new spot (a process which takes one year), an audition will be scheduled for his old chair.
May 23, 1997
The results of the audition are as follows:
Two candidates qualified, Bruce Roberts and Doug Hull. The decision on what to do now rests with Michael Tilson Thomas. He can ask them each to play a trial period in the orchestra, hire either or neither. His next step must be announced 28 days after the audition.
April 11, 1997
The invitation only audition will be held on May 14.
October 5, 1996
After the two week trial period, it was jointly decided by the horn section and Michael Tilson Thomas that Karl Pituch would not be offered the position of third horn. Karl is an excellent player, but was not a good fit for our section, so we decided that we would hold another audition at a future date to be determined. It may be a small, invitation only audition or possibly a full audition once again. [Karl subsequently won the audition for principal horn in Detroit - we all wish him well in his new job!]
September 3, 1996
The one player who qualified for the orchestra, and who will be given a two-week trial period starting Saturday, September 7, 1996 is...
Karl Pituch, principal horn of the Jacksonville Symphony.
The level of playing was extraordinarily high in the finals, musically and technically. But Karl's audition stood out in all areas and he was overwhelmingly approved by the committee. The decision now rests with MTT on officially hiring him. He is a terrific player and a very nice guy.
About 200 players applied and sent their resumes. We invited about 50 from the resumes. The rest got letters asking them to send a tape. 40 players sent tapes, and we chose 3.
The repertoire that we asked on the various rounds was:
Tape round: (for those not invited on the basis of their resume)
Schumann: Adagio and Allegro
Bach: Sarabande from 5th Cello Suite
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto Trio
Brahms: 1st Symphony, 2nd mov't 1st horn solo
Strauss: Till, 3rd horn
Wagner: Short Call
Round 1: (35 players -- some people didn't attend)
Bach: Sarabande from 5th Cello Suite
Schumann: Adagio and Allegro
Strauss: Till, 3rd horn
Mahler: 3rd Symphony
Round 2: (12 players)
Bach: Cello Suite again
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto Trio
Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto, 3rd horn
Mendelssohn: Scotch Symphony 2nd mov't
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, 3rd horn, various places
Round 3: (6 players)
Schumann: Adagio and Allegro
Bach: Brandenburg Trio again
Brahms: 1st Symphony, 2nd mov't 1st horn solo
Wagner: Short Call
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 low part in first mov't
Mahler: 3rd Symphony
Lastly, it happened to be Dave Krehbiel's 60th birthday on the second day, so, as is traditional, we had a little practical joke set up: an accordionist playing behind the screen doing the list of excerpts as the last player to play in the first round. Needless to say, Dave's ears perked right up, and he climbed on top of the table to look over the top of the screen and see who it was. Very funny!
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