NEW FACES!

While all the world has celebrated the "Holiday Season", we at Sinfonieorchester Basel have experienced "Audition Season". This isn`t necessarily a season in itself. However, for one day weekly,  three weeks in a row, we had the challenge and the duty to listen to players who were invited to come and show us their talent and level of accomplishment in an effort to fill three very important job openings in our orchestra. Auditions are gruelling for everyone involved, from A to Z. I won`t go into the details now (maybe later), but it kind of makes me think- and this is really a perverse comparison- of the Spanish Inquisition. We`ll get the truth out of you, no matter how much torture it takes. There`s no physical or emotional waterboarding, I promise. Our auditions are fair and VERY humane. Just know that our candidates are highly qualified and motivated- and each must show us, in a tiny amount of time, what heights of perfection they can achieve. Can you imagine the pressure of showing your life`s accomplishments in ten minutes while forty other candidates are practising in the same room with you, gearing up to go on? And for us, the listeners, it`s taking the responsibiltiy to decide over someone else`s fate, as well as that of the orchestra. Forty-three candidates, all playing the same Mozart concerto, one after other. The sphincter of my brain closes up completely after the 18th candidate; after that my cerebellum starts to feel as soupy as cream of wheat. Try to be attentive and fair if you can.

The results of our last three auditions are encouraging and exciting: our search for a solo bassoonist (although Tomek will always remain irreplaceable) ended with the engagement of 22 year-old Benedict Schobel, who`ll start working with us on March first. The audition for assistant principal contrabass wasn`t blessed with success: we`ll hope for white smoke at the next audition. However, the audition for solo harp brought us double the pleasure: not only did "our" Aurelie Noll receive the solo job, in spite of a tough week of concertizing, we also found a worthy second harpist in Manon Louis, who will start in August.

And so it goes in the continual search for highest quality. We take this very seriously, as anybody who has been at our auditions knows. Our orchestra continues to improve and - become younger. It makes me wonder if I  should start holding auditions...