Chicago Symphony Tuba Audition 1988 ?

[joh_tuba]

Cost of living, levels of local taxation, and quality of life factored in, Tony may have one of the very highest-paying tuba orchestra jobs in the world.

Not only does it pay well relative to the cost of living it's also a really great ensemble that plays in a very nice hall AND it's one of the most financially stable orchestras in the country. Indianapolis is a seriously underrated orchestra. Musicians that land a job there tend to stay.

[graybach]

Wasn't Mr. Jacobs in the Indianapolis Symphony in the early part of his career?

[PMeuph]

Wasn't Mr. Jacobs in the Indianapolis Symphony in the early part of his career?

That's what the wiki says.

[Tom]

I could be wrong, but this is a great story, regardless.

Tony Kniffen was apparently in town to take a lesson with Mr. Jacobs and was not planning to to take the audition. Mr. Jacobs was impressed enough during the lesson to place a call and arrange for Tony to take the short trip down the street and play. My understanding is that he was the only player to make the finals that day.

I remember hearing him warm up in the practice area and was simply blown away by his sound. I had my back to the room, packing up my stuff after having played a rather uninspired audition. I whirled around and literally did a double take when I first heard him play. Very impressive.

Although Indianapolis is a nice job, I have always been just a little surprised that Tony did not end up with one of the premier orchestra jobs, since they all became available at one point or another after Chicago was filled.

Cost of living, levels of local taxation, and quality of life factored in, Tony may have one of the very highest-paying tuba orchestra jobs in the world.

Yes, factor all of that plus the fact that his wife is a member of the Indianapolis Symphony, he has a home in Indianapolis, kids in school in Indianapolis, connections to Indiana University & Perantoni and is only a few hours drive from cities like Chicago and Cincinnati and it's (I think) easy to understand why someone would win that job, let life happen, and decide to stay put.

I happen to know all of these things to be true about Tony, but I think the same scenario can be applied to many of the players at the center of the question "why didn't they move on to such-and-such orchestra?" Beleive it or not, some players are perfectly content doing exactly what they're doing where they are doing it. It is also my opinion that if you really got to know any of the major orchestral tuba players, most would likely tell you that eventually it's time to get off the audition train and settle down.

[happyroman]

Now 23 years ago, In 1988, with the words "several people could play the position of principal tuba in the CSO but nobody replaces Arnold Jacobs,” Gene Pokorny rented the tuba chair of the Chicago Symphony. Since that day he has been an asset to the Chicago Symphony and the tuba community. His kindness extends to visiting grade schools in Chicago, developing new literature, helping tuba players whether they played on the street or studied at a conservatory, and doing more than most musicians do to preserve the memory of his predecessor.

Yes this was probably the audition of the century and the major players of the day took part. There were no winners or losers, the Chicago Symphony made their choice and 23 years later it has turned out to be a good choice. After Gene someone else will rent that chair - that is how symphony orchestras have worked for hundreds of years.

We have well passed the time of speculation.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by speculation. I don't think that ANYONE disputes the fact that Gene was the best candidate for the job in 1988, and remains so to this day. The manner in which he has handled the position, made all the more difficult by following THE legend among orchestral tubists, has been exceptional, to put it mildly.

I simply find it interesting to share war stories from back in the day.

[mammoth2ba]

Since both players are mentioned in this thread, interested parties can hear Gene Pokorny and Anthony Kniffen playing together in a live recording made at Orchestra Hall last December (recently released):

http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Symphony- ... 118&sr=1-1" target="_blank

SACD only $3.20 additional.

It's one of the recordings in my collection that makes my listening room floor vibrate at moderate playback levels (another CSO recording in that category is the Boulez/Mahler 1).