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And you think you've got problems in your orchestra.....


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alexwill
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:12 pm    Post subject: And you think you've got problems in your orchestra..... Reply with quote

There is a really big uproar right now in the OSB, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, in Rio. It is starting to get nasty. The conductor wants to re audition the entire orchestra by bringing American and German orchestral musicians (one is a soloist) down to Rio to pass judgement on the mostly Brasilian musicians.

Here is the very latest... (in English)

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/03/facebook_audition_jury_named_a.html

Look here for some previous posts about this issue.
http://myauditions.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2256096313/m/402004714001


Last edited by alexwill on Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:53 am; edited 1 time in total
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alexwill
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alex Klein the former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has written an excellent letter to the conductor of the OSB, and here it is.

(scroll down just a little.)
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/03/facebook_protest_prompts_orche.html
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Musicman
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Coming from personal experiences with Minczuk, I can't say that I am surprised with all this. He's coming here in a few months as a guest conductor, and all I can say publically is that I'm "really looking forward to it."
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Robson
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm from Sao Paulo and he was the second conductor here... He is a trouble maker and he is doing the same in Rio... poor guys!

(I'm not a professional musician, but you don't need to be to know about him... he is very "famous"...)
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alexwill
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Inteview with Minczuk

Google translation of article in Portuguese.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http://vejabrasil.abril.com.br/rio-de-janeiro/editorial/m2337/roberto-minczuk

Article in Portuguese:
http://vejabrasil.abril.com.br/rio-de-janeiro/editorial/m2337/roberto-minczuk
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gbdeamer
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From what I can understand of the articles it seems like this guy was hired to make changes. Seems like these re-auditions will definitely create some change...and lots of anger.
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Musicman
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

gbdeamer wrote:
From what I can understand of the articles it seems like this guy was hired to make changes. Seems like these re-auditions will definitely create some change...and lots of anger.


There is a big difference in method with what Neschling did in Sao Paulo to create change than what Minczuk is doing in Rio. Roberto's reputation has lots of negative baggage, and this only makes it worse. There is no guarantee that this is going to be fair, and knowing him and having played for him many times, I wouldn't trust his intentions one bit. Disdain from his colleagues to the point of prohibiting him from conducting certain orchestras; it has to be an eye opener when people who at one time shared the stage with you as a fellow musician and countrymen take the decision to prohibit you for a decent amount of time from conducting that same orchestra. This is a small world, and things really travel fast. Today with the internet you can already see the backlash on www.artsjournal.com, letters by Alex Klein, and comments from leading orchestral musicians around the world. This is not the way to go about doing this. If he is unhappy with certain aging elements within the group, there has to be a way for them to retire with dignity and be thanked for their many years of service. Being canned after 30-40 years on the job is ethically wrong and only lends to a huge legal mess. There's a lot of negative energy surrounding this guy, and that doesn't make for good music, nor good change. Don't buy the image being sold on his interview. This guy's true colors are finally coming to light and he is damaging himself and his reputation with shortsighted attitudes and actions.
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MrClean
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have sent emails to my American colleagues involved in this "process".

Jim
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MrClean
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Post deleted by request.
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antonioaugusto
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:56 pm    Post subject: Brazilian Orchestra absurd Reply with quote

My name is Antonio Augusto and I play at Brazilian Symphony Orchestra for 22 years. This year was going to be my 23th season, but I guess it was not going to happen because I am going to refuse to re-audition for a job a have already auditioned twenty e two years ago. And believe, is not for not to be able to performance. I just got a place at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro competing with 10 other doctors.
I mentioned that to tell Jim, that your friend has been misinformed about what is going on in Brazil at moment. First of all, we do not have part-time jobs. My contract with the BSO, includes 13 payments a year, health insurance and all the advantages of a full time job.
What is really going on is a mass dismissal of the aged people and those who not accept the conductor’s leadership, as you can see on the text below.
Something can be legal, but nevertheless been legal always means to be ethical? It is completely legal to dismiss a musician who is just five years to retire, but it is ethical to dismiss a person who has been playing in the orchestra for the last forty years? And I can tell you, playing in really worst work condition, sometimes without any wage for months and now that the orchestra has a lot of public money they just decided that it is time to renovate? Is it fair? And I am not talking about amateurs, but musicians with a long history in Brazil musical life, as well as abroad.
This Message from the President of the Rio de Janeiro Musicians' Union presented at 2ª FIM International Orchestra Conference (IOC) tell us the meaning point of this absurd.
Last year, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra celebrated 70 years of activities. There were over 100 concerts to an estimated public of 190 000 people, according to the institution itself. Also a significant increase in the budget of the orchestra was reported, with funds coming from public policy sponsored by the federal government.
What could indicate a time of reward to the musicians of the orchestra, which for years received low wages, facing the worst working conditions and sacrificed much of his personal life in favor of this institution had become a worldly unprecedented drama. Only two days after the start of their collective holidays - traditionally in January in Brazil - were surprised by a statement informing that all OSB musicians would be subject to a "performance evaluation" provided with no discretion and without any discussion with the orchestral body or its leaders. Following this statement, the orchestra management announced that the orchestra would have their activities suspended until the month of July, and the concerts of the season in March, April, May and June would be conducted by the Brazilian Youth Symphony. At the same time they announced competitions for posts to be held in London, New York and finally in Rio de Janeiro.
It was thus clarified that the project will lead to mass dismissals, leading to the absurd situation of changing an entire orchestra to meet the demand of a single person, maestro Roberto Minczuk. For some time the orchestra and its conductor have not been speaking the same language, especially after the dismissal of 14 musicians on the eve of Christmas, in 2006, as well as his attempts to dismiss older musicians and those who opposed his leadership .
At the same time, admonitions are sent by the orchestra management warning that the absence to procedure will lead to a severe punishment and even the interruption of the work contract. Despite all this embarrassment, 56 of the 82 musicians who make up the orchestral body, meeting in Assembly decided not to undertake this "performance evaluation", in protest against disrespect, arrogance and lack of dialogue that are being submitted.
Thus, we ask your support against this violence which the musicians from the most traditional orchestra in Brazil are undergoing, preventing that the most basic human rights - the right to work - is not usurped and that those responsible for this abnormality are properly accountable.
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TrumpVoluntary
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim,
Your friend couldn't be more wrong.
The Brazilian Symphony is a 70 year old orchestra that has never, ever, been a per service orchestra. It has been since 1940 a full-time orchestra. No serious musician in Brazil would say such a thing. On the contrary, these musicians have fought through the years to stablish decent work conditions with success.
After this new conductor came, the first thing he did was to impose that two of the musicians' representatives should be directly named by him. And so began the orchestra to suffer under his arrogance and lack of artistic competence. They have voted six times for his dismissal. No less than six times! And this was over 95% of the orchestra. Management has imposed his presence and right after he signed for six more years, against the orchestra decision, he began to made a vendetta against them with this crazy re-audition.
It is also not true that what is happening to the BSO is similar to what happened to other orchestras in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Is these cases, the reestructurations were discussed with the musicians. In the case of Paraná, no reestructuration was done at all.
The only people who are speaking this ridiculous language your friend is reproducing in his/her message is the Chief Conductor and some of his adulator musicians. The sentence "The musicians that I know in Brazil urged me to come to Rio to help" is very hard to listen to. Brazilian musicians don't need this kind of help. It is too much naivity to believe on such things.
This conductor is a trouble maker. One of his deplorable episodes, while he was assistant in São Paulo, caused the dismissal of 9 musicians.
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MrClean
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will pass along your messages to both of them. I have made multiple posts on the forum discussion that Alex has linked above. Best of luck to both of you and your colleagues. Hang in there!

Jim
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antonioaugusto
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Jim, i would really appreciate it. We are in a battle where everyone is going to be harmed. But you know that the weakest part is always the musicians….
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TrumpVoluntary
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you very much for your help, Jim.
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fluteplayer
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim

Thanks for your help!
I was at the São Paulo Orchestra audition and I know the situations was completely different from Rio. Nobody lost their jobs in São Paulo nor in Minas auditions, they made new orchestras in both cases. Nobody lost their jobs, both cities won new orchestras and more musician have more job opportunities.

Ah! And I am also one of those dismissed musicians mentioned above...

Rogerio Wolf
former OSESP and OSB principal flute. (in both cases, "former" thanks to this "conductor"). But OSB I left when he arrived, I was not dismissed.
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MrClean
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good luck!
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Last edited by MrClean on Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:38 pm; edited 2 times in total
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antonioaugusto
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim! I have no words to thank you! That was great news! And very important to stimulate everyone involved in this shameful situation! Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!
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TrumpVoluntary
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great Jim! Thank you a thousand times.
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MrClean
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, they will probably just find someone else to do the dirty work, so let's not celebrate just yet...
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JonathanM
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kudos to all working for justice here!

'All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.'

How heartwarming to see this forum used so well for such a good purpose! Well done!!
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