How does a musician become a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra?
First, an opening must exist in one of the sections of the orchestra. Once the opening has been advertised in the International Musician (the official publication of the American Federation of Musicians – the collective bargaining agent for professional musicians in the United State and Canada) and elsewhere, applicants submit their resumes for review and an audition is scheduled in the Hilbert Circle Theatre some months later. All musicians in the orchestra must pass an audition. For the audition, a musician prepares at least one solo work (usually a concerto) and several contrasting excerpts from the orchestral repertoire selected by the audition committee. Occasionally, sight-reading (playing music that was not on the audition repertoire list) is required. In order to guarantee anonymity and to prevent favoritism, the candidates play from behind a screen in all but the final round. The music director, along with the audition committee comprised of orchestra members, selects the play
