{"id":6576,"date":"2011-06-02T15:34:07","date_gmt":"2011-06-02T22:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=6576"},"modified":"2011-06-05T23:44:38","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T06:44:38","slug":"recruit-retain-restore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/02\/recruit-retain-restore\/","title":{"rendered":"recruit, retain, restore"},"content":{"rendered":"
It’s been about 18 hours since the news broke that Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki was leaving the OSO for the concertmaster post with the Nashville Symphony. I’ve had quite a few thoughts flit through my head yesterday, but I thought that it would be better to just sleep on it and see what would develop as the day went on. There have been quite a few people that have been wondering “what this means” in the context of the Oregon Symphony and its standing in the world of American orchestras. I think that it both means something and that it doesn’t mean much of anything.<\/div>\n
I don’t know Jun’s motivations for leaving the Oregon Symphony – they’re his concern, not mine. Some people have noted that this seems like a lateral move (instead of moving up to an orchestra like Dallas, for example), and were perplexed by what would draw Jun there. Elain Calder’s comment on the move in the Oregon Symphony’s press release does spell out a few clues to the other, more tangible aspects that may have had something to do with the move:<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to accept that Jun is leaving us after only four seasons, but the Nashville Symphony has a $23 million budget and a new, acclaimed concert hall. They record regularly on the Naxos label and have received six Grammy awards in the past decade. We wish him all the very best, and will now turn our attention to finding a gifted new concertmaster. In the meantime, we are fortunate in Peter Frajola, our Associate Concertmaster, and we know that the performance standards we demonstrated at Carnegie Hall last month will continue under Carlos Kalmar\u2019s inspired direction.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
So, here’s my translation of the first two sentences of that statement (which may or may not be at all accurate):<\/div>\n
\n
“We don’t have as much money, so our pay base is lower than theirs, which means that we can’t match their offer for compensation, and our hall is terrible. We have recorded only one disc with Carlos Kalmar, and that hasn’t yet been released, and we don’t know when or if we’ll be able to produce another recording in the foreseeable future.”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I think that time, more than anything else, made Jun’s decision for him. Four years is a good amount of time for a first major position, and in the orchestra business, the longer you stay in one place, the more likely you are to stay put (ask me how I know). There will likely be even more major positions opening in the next few years, and it helps immensely to stay on the audition circuit and have your name out there for orchestras who are in the hunt for a new concertmaster.<\/div>\n
So what does this mean for the Oregon Symphony? Not much, I think. We’ll attract and invite some very highly qualified candidates for this next audition, and I have no doubt that we’ll find someone very good. I remember very clearly the thought that we’d never find anyone to take over for Amy Schwartz Moretti, but Jun showed up and was hired. Not to mention that there was at least one other approved candidate in the field with him in the last audition. So, life will go on.<\/div>\n
Perhaps just a bit over a decade ago, there was a comment made during discussions at a violin audition that the Oregon Symphony was more of an ‘entry level’ job. I don’t think that that is so much the case any more, certainly as far as artistic standards go. But in income and benefits, we’re gradually falling behind orchestras who used to lag behind us in decades past. Recruitment and retention are aspects of the business that are always hammered on by the musician members of the contract negotiating team, and this loss of a leading player should prompt some lively discussion of the matter in the currently ongoing negotiations.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been about 18 hours since the news broke that Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki was leaving the OSO for the concertmaster post with the Nashville Symphony. I’ve had quite a few thoughts flit through my head yesterday, but I thought that it would be better to just sleep on it and see what would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[432,2419,2705,2704,2703],"class_list":["post-6576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-concertmaster","tag-jun-iwasaki","tag-nashville","tag-recruiting","tag-retention"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1I4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6565,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/01\/concertmaster-jun-iwasaki-leaving-oregon-for-nashville-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":0},"title":"concertmaster jun iwasaki leaving oregon for nashville post","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon Symphony concertmaster of four years Jun Iwasaki is leaving for a new post with the Nashville Symphony beginning with the 2011-2012 season. From the Nashville Symphony press release: Nashville Symphony has appointed Jun Iwasaki as the orchestra\u2019s new concertmaster. Currently concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony in Portland, he will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Iwasaki2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7434,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/03\/21\/former-concertmaster-to-join-oso-for-final-concerts-of-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":1},"title":"former concertmaster to join oso for final concerts of season","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"David Stabler of the Oregonian broke the story earlier today: A good friend returns to Portland to close out the final concert of the\u00a0Oregon Symphony's\u00a02011\/12 season. Violinist Jun Iwasaki is scheduled to appear as guest concertmaster to lead the players in Igor Stravinsky's famously furious \"Rite of Spring,\" May 20\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Iwasaki2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2887,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/21\/all-quiet-on-the-orchestral-front\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":2},"title":"all quiet on the orchestral front","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the middle of the summer.\u00a0 The dog days, one might say, at least here in Portland, where the mercury is expected to top 90\u00b0F again today.\u00a0 There is little going on, classical musically speaking in Portland right now, except for the final concerts of Chamber Music Northwest's summer festival\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"son_lynx_a","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/son_lynx_a-400x612.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2774,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/27\/cmnws-octet\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":3},"title":"cmnw’s octet","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Jun Iwasaki Photo: Absolute Images If you're interested in hearing the performance of Mendelssohn's great Octet for strings from Chamber Music Northwest last week, you can now hear the performance available online for streaming over the internet at InstantEncore.com.\u00c2\u00a0 The performance features Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki along with an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"jun-iwasaki_casual_absolute-images","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/jun-iwasaki_casual_absolute-images-133x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5327,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/18\/countdown-to-carnegie\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":4},"title":"countdown to carnegie","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight's the night - the night we try to push over the top and reach our fundraising goal for the Oregon Symphony's trip to Carnegie Hall in May 2011. The concert will feature Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony, with guests Thomas Lauderdale, OSO concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, Storm Large, Darcelle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fundraising"","block_context":{"text":"fundraising","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fundraising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":909,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/04\/jun-iwasaki-friend-concert-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":6576,"position":5},"title":"jun iwasaki & friends concert tonight","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"An exciting concert will be presented this evening to endow the Naomi Blumberg Endowment Fund for Chamber Music Education at the Community Music Center. The concert features OSO concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, OSO musicians, and CMC students and alumni in a full evening of chamber music. The concert will feature the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jun Iwasaki and Friends","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iwasaki-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}