A letter to the editor on Thursday, Feb. 23 ("Ringers for the Orchestra"), criticized the personnel policies of the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra . To the extent that this letter was a criticism of my own work as conductor of the DSO, it could be easily ignored. For orchestral conductors, negative reactions to personnel decisions come with the territory. What I cannot allow to stand unanswered is the public denigration of the efforts and accomplishments of DSO student players that is implied by this letter.
One of the primary objections raised to the personnel policies of the DSO is the practice of hiring a professional player to fill a slot for which a qualified Dartmouth student cannot be found. In discussions about this issue, the authenticity of the DSO as a student ensemble is sometimes called into question. This is a superficial response to a considerably more complicated situation that is informed by Dartmouth's geographical remoteness and size. Within this context, creating a functioning ensemble from a limited pool of players of vastly different levels of ability, experience and interest is challenging indeed.
When considering the DSO's personnel policies, it is fair to ask if the requirements for membership are reasonable. As a professional educator and musician of long-standing who has worked with players at every conceivable level, I can say without fear of reasonable contradiction that the standards for admission into the DSO are not onerous. It is required that players simply play at a level that will allow them to improve through both individual practice and rehearsal. They have to be able to prepare a full program of music in an eight-week term on four hours of rehearsal a week. Many players struggle to meet this standard. I have often heard a person of limited perspective describe a given player as being fully capable of playing in the DSO, only to find that the recommended player did not have the tools to be a functioning member of the orchestra. If players lacking this basic facility were put into the ensemble, they would be overwhelmed. It would also severely compromise the experience of students in the orchestra to whom some degree of quality in their musical work is not only important, but also determinative regarding their decision to spend their limited time resources playing in the orchestra. At a school where essentially recreational artistic outlets abound, surely there is a place for groups that maintain moderate avocational standards.
It is extremely common for college orchestras, particularly at relatively small schools, to fill out their ranks with hired players. This allows these ensembles to play repertoire that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. If we restricted ourselves to repertoire that only required the forces at our immediate disposal, the educational mission of the DSO would be extremely limited. Additionally, the amount of hiring done for DSO concerts is actually considerably lower than for many orchestras at colleges our size.
Each term, I am surrounded by DSO student players who work hard on their instruments and their music. They carry the bulk of the musical burden in our concerts; that professional players join us doesn't change this fact in the slightest. How strange it was for me to read in the campus newspaper that the DSO wasn't a student orchestra at all, and then conduct a rehearsal of a C.P.E. Bach Flute Concerto played beautifully by a student soloist and an orchestra comprised of nothing but students and two faculty members. Or to see our student players surmount the considerable challenges inherent in playing and performing a Mahler Symphony. The gap between myth and reality in this circumstance is truly obvious to anyone who may take the time to actually examine it.
I feel privileged to be the conductor of the Dartmouth Symphony. I consistently find the students with whom I work to be intelligent, creative, highly motivated and personally decent. The DSO is indeed an amateur student orchestra. To me, this designation is not pejorative at all; in fact, it denotes our great strength. The DSO is supported by the College, the Hopkins Center and the broader community because of the passion, idealism, open-mindedness and hard work of its student players. These are the essential qualities that have won the ensemble consistent praise from its audiences. This is why I came to Dartmouth, and it is why I am still devoted to it. Preparing a performance with a professional orchestra does not require 18 rehearsals in a term, sectional rehearsals, individual coaching sessions, sending and responding to clouds of BlitzMail, securing rehearsal space, finding instruments, obtaining music or performing many of the other tasks inherent in conducting this student orchestra. But the rewards for all that work are often greater.
