I’ve been told by a reliable source that this really is a mess.
Just a portion of the article:
The committee were placed behind a screen but allowed access to their cell phones and tablets which they were allowed to receive texts from auditioning people to notify them who was playing. Committee members were seen peering behind the screen as well as asking auditioning musicians to come and speak with the committee behind the curtain. The audition was a sham and once the votes had been tallied, the music director tailored or changed the results to fit his liking. There were no brass or percussion players were allowed to be on the panel even though full brass sections and percussion and timpani players were heard in the audition process. The result was a completely different orchestra with approximately 7 principal positions changing hands as well as Thai musicians losing their jobs that had been working in the orchestra for 12 years. If a new foreign candidate was selected to join the orchestra, the orchestra demanded them to give confirmation and move to Thailand within 2 weeks of the audition results.
I’m grateful for our union. Truly grateful.
