Why do pro orchestras ask for a resume?

[sloan]

.....a few years ago a foreign orchestra (Australia?) screened applicants by requiring that anyone invited to the audition had to have spent a summer at Tanglewood...I don't know the specifics, but I remember that aspect of it, and the winner was a Tanglewood alum.

Well, if you had to be at Tanglewood to get an audition, it's a pretty good bet that the winner would be a Tanglewood alum!

[TubaRay]

.....a few years ago a foreign orchestra (Australia?) screened applicants by requiring that anyone invited to the audition had to have spent a summer at Tanglewood...I don't know the specifics, but I remember that aspect of it, and the winner was a Tanglewood alum.

Well, if you had to be at Tanglewood to get an audition, it's a pretty good bet that the winner would be a Tanglewood alum!

Elementary, my dear Watson.

[tubaman5150]

Orchestras need ticket buyers, patrons, personal donors, corporate donors, and just about any sort of stuff that can be turned into $$$$$$$$'s

When a position is open, an orchestra (corporately) views this as an opportunity to bring more publicity (thus $$$$$$$$$'s) to the orchestra. That (besides other obvious reasons) is why experience is important. Sean Chisham (and a trombonist in a major orchestra) both think there ends up being one obvious person who plays the very best on a given day. That may be true, and likely is true. When one hears tuba players "warming up" in their rooms prior to auditions, it is fairly obvious that there are quite a few terrible applicants and quite a few who would fit in to any orchestra "just fine". When one hears recordings of some long-standing orchestral tuba players playing solos and concerti, it is also fairly obvious that it is pretty easy to keep a tuba job, once one is obtained. Going back to the publicity issue, I believe the young lady who was recently appointed fit into many desired molds: playing ability, young, attractive, and unique...the final three being extremely large publicity factors. Please read this very carefully. You could avoid typing a thoughtless flame: If she played at least as well as the second-best applicant, in my view it would have been impossible for her to lose.

Though the idea of publicity being a factor in auditions disturbs me, this is the best explanation I've heard about this subject.

[iiipopes]

So, what's new? The only difference between being in orchestra and being in any other aspect of the entertainment business is that she probably won't have a swarm of papparazzi trying to cop a nude photograph for the Enquirer or the net.

[windshieldbug]

Maybe, but she will have to listen to the jokes of the trombone players...