Principal Tuba Position, West Virginia Symphony

Zade · Post by **Zade** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:11 am

To my understanding there is an opening for the principal tuba position in the West Virginia Symphony. Does anyone know when this audition will take place? Has the resume deadline passed? I have checked the website and could not find any info. Thanks

Zade

jhfloyd · Post by **jhfloyd** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:43 pm

I got this response from the Principal Trombonist, Chris Dearth, regarding the tuba audition. He says that it should be in the July AFM paper

===========================================

Audition is Sunday, September 16th. First round kicks off at 10 A.M.

Principal Tuba pay is $111.80/service (guaranteed 78 services)

Deadline to apply: August 17, 2007

To apply, please send brief resume to:

Robert Turizziani, Personnel Manager
West Virginia Symphony Orchestra
PO Box 2292
Charleston, WV 25328
or rturizziani@wvsymphony.org

Zade · Post by **Zade** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:53 am

Thanks and I received the information from office as well.

Zade

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:00 pm

harold wrote:9K a year to play 78 services? Is this right?

Before taxes...

Dave Y · Post by **Dave Y** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:49 pm

I sent them my resume weeks ago. Has anyone heard back yet?

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:30 pm

harold wrote:9K a year to play 78 services? Is this right?

This clearly isn't a full-time position. But, let's analize the numbers.

Assuming a "service" is two hours work, that equates to $55.90 per hour. If it were a full time job (2080 hours per year), then the annual salary would be $116,272.

Or, assuming a "service is three hours work, that equates to $37.27 per hour or $77,522.

Either way not too bad. To make up for the job being part time, the winner can work in a coal mine.

sc_curtis · Post by **sc_curtis** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:03 am

harold wrote:How much practice do you need to do in order to play 78 services a year?

Can't most people just show up and play tooba music? Why practice?

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:48 am

harold wrote:How much practice do you need to do in order to play 78 services a year?

Continuing education? No other job requires that!

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:51 am

sc_curtis wrote:Can't most people just show up

There's your problem...

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:31 pm

Keep it up, and we'll have to change your name to "bob1099"...

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:46 pm

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 8:14 pm

Bob1062 wrote:Being able to play in just ONE group must also have its advantages, but this doesn't sound so bad. Assuming there are similar groups nearby and that you can get into them of course!

I think it's highly optimistic that one could expect to find another orchestral playing gig in the region, that of course has an opening for a tuba player and the aspiring West Virginia Symphony tubist wins, of course. Don't forget...no scheduling conficts between the "similar groups"...wouldn't want to have a rehearsal with one group during a performance with the other. Anybody know of a situation where a tuba player can actually hold a chair in two groups and make it work without too much difficulty?

It's a pretty good drive to other major cities in the region. Columbus is 162 miles away, Lexington is 175 miles, Cincinnati is 207 miles, Winston-Salem is 217 miles, Pittsburgh is 228 miles, Knoxville is 310 miles, and Richmond is 315 miles. Did I miss any?

Heck, Morgantown is the home of the big university in the state and it's 156 miles away. Assuming you're "Principal tuba of WVU" and have the chops to win the audition, would you really want to drive 312 miles 78 times for 9K? Gas is about $3 a gallon there, I would assume? 24,336 miles is gonna take lots of gas...even at 30 miles/gallon you're going to pay about $2500 just for fuel. At 20 mpg (more likely for a student-owned car), it's closer to $3700.

Nope, this gig is for someone either already living in Charleston, or willing to move there and work another job.

Here's how the 2007-2008 season breaks down:

Symphonic series: September 14, 2007 through April 12, 2008 (11 performances)

Pops series: December 7, 2007 through April 26, 2008 (8 performances)

Tchaikovsky's Nutcraker: December 14-15, 2007 (3 performances)

Bernstein's West Side Story: May 17, 2008 (1 performance)

Family Discovery series: October 13, 2007 through April 12, 2008 (2 performances for the tubist - 1 Beethoven concert (no tuba))

"Special Concerts" - June 3, 2007 / August 25-26, 2008 (Snowshoe symphony festival) / June 1, 2008 (4 performances, although the last seems like it would be in the 2008-2009 season...gonna count 3 here)

Spring Tour - April 17-20, 2008 (5 performances)

"Road Trip" Concerts - (11 performances, exotic locales like Berkeley Springs, Fairmont, and Parkersburg)

That's 44 performances for the tuba player...78 services means 34 rehearsals (don't know what day of the week, or when). The basic season appears to be September through April with a special summer concert and festival atop Snowshoe mountain in August.

I would think the difficulty would lie in finding a second job that pays enough additional $$$ to pay the bills but still has the flexibility to allow you to play with the symphony and miss work from time to time for rehearsals, performances (there are many afternoon gigs), and tours.

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:01 pm

I'd love to hear from anyone that has been able to hold more than one gig of this level (you all know what I mean) at the same time. For the sake of argument, assuming you don't have a competent sub available anytime you need one, does anybody know of someone who has pulled it off?

Bob, you know people who have played in several groups (I assume you understood that I meant at the same time)...who are they and what gigs were they able to juggle together in the same season? Anyone else know of a similar story? Would it work present-day with all the fantastic players flooding the market?

I, for one, can't imagine taking a gig of this level and trying to handle a similar gig in another town...I'd be living scared all the time of a conflict of interests...I could be wrong, though...

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:01 pm

Todd S. Malicoate wrote:It's a pretty good drive to other major cities in the region. Columbus is 162 miles away, Lexington is 175 miles, Cincinnati is 207 miles, Winston-Salem is 217 miles, Pittsburgh is 228 miles, Knoxville is 310 miles, and Richmond is 315 miles. Did I miss any?

Cleveland's 250 miles away. Not a quick drive, either.

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:11 pm

jacojdm wrote:Cleveland's 250 miles away. Not a quick drive, either.

No kidding...and it's a pretty good bet no one will be winning the chair in the Cleveland Orchestra anytime soon...Yasuhito Sugiyama just started as the tenured player there last year.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:33 pm

Todd S. Malicoate wrote:I, for one, can't imagine taking a gig of this level and trying to handle a similar gig in another town...I'd be living scared all the time of a conflict of interests...I could be wrong, though...

Welcome to the world of the freelance tuba player...

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:55 pm

Bob1062 wrote:The main guy I meant (I don't want to say his name, but actually a trombonist so he plays on MORE stuff than the tuba player) does play in at least 3, if not 4 (can't quite remember) orchestras at the SAME time.

<img src="http://3ec.us/creatingfun/imgs/albums/f ... _Horse.gif" alt="flying horse" width="320" height="200">

I can buy that in Chicago there might be 3 or 4 orchestras a guy can play in for pay, but not 3 or 4 at the level of the position being discussed. We're not talking about the Little River Community Orchestra or the St. Julian Prospero players here. Call West Virginia second-tier, or third-tier, or whatever you want, but I'm calling BS on anyone playing in three or more groups with the number of services they do a season.

Bob1062 wrote:In the 2 years I played with him, he only missed maybe 5 rehearsals tops. The groups are the couple biggest ones in my (old) area. I hesitate to say anything more specific about him, as I feel weird talking about someone on the internet.

Again, I don't think you understand what level of group I'm talking about. You don't miss 5 rehearsals tops, or any rehearsals, in a gig with 78 services. I don't care how good a player you are, you can't keep that sort of gig and miss. I'm not interested in the name of the trombonist you're talking about, but I would like to know what 3 or 4 orchestras he can play with all in the same season. BTW...you went from knowing "people" to one "main guy."

Bob1062 wrote:In my (admittedly somewhat limited) experience, the groups I played in had schedules out for the whole season before the season started, and most likely had concerts planned out a few years in advance. I don't remember anything being added, and if anything a few were taken away (tentative ballet thing, changed around a chamber concert,..).
So I would think it would be fairly easy to take the schedules at the beginning of the year and work out the schematics of it.

But that's just my experience.

I totally disagree that it would be easy at all to juggle the schedules...what are you going to do if you are on a five-day tour with orchestra one while orchestra two has two rehearsals and two performances the same weekend? How exactly does one "work out the schematics (sic)" of that?

I'm really not meaning to be confrontational, but I would appreciate some insight into how a player can survive on gigs like the West Virginia Symphony. I know my present day job boss wouldn't go for me missing the work time necessary to play in a group like this, and I'm confused about what kind of work would bring in the $$$ but be flexible enough to allow for the time away. Surely someone out there in the TNFJ has some experience with this sort of thing...

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:56 pm

Some neighboring orchestras(per service size) do coordinate their schedules.Many in a region share alot of the same players,especially the strings.As far as who would want the gig,I'm sure there are some college teachers,band directors,or others who are fine players who would love this gig as a supplement to their income.

joebob · Post by **joebob** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:06 pm

For those of you that can't imagine what kind of person could/would do this gig, here is an article about some members of the orchestra including the former tuba player:

http://www.dailymail.com/story/Life/+/2 ... ly-fishing

Some relatively simple searching about other members of this group shows me that many do travel 200 miles or more and that many play in other regional orchestras and/or teach college.

In my experience with orchestras at this level, they expect that their players play in other groups and it is often negotiated into the contract that a player can miss X number of services per season (without pay of course).

Whether or not this gig is worth it is up to the beholder. It's obviously worth it to an orchestra full of players who currently do it.

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:18 pm

I think in-depth study of the above link should be mandatory reading for all aspiring musicians.Note: all the very high-end educations,instruments,and OTHER jobs most all of them have.I'd bet there are some really fine players in there that make 10-25% of their total living in the orchestra.It's probably the favorite thing most of them do,also...