Ah, but in the two cases I cited, this was not the case. The long term member just ignored attempts to contact him. The short term fill, we didn't know the position wouldn't be filled until the dress rehearsal.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Haflich Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 4:51 PM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] A Note For College Horn Players Bill Gross <[email protected]> wrote: Why bring this up? Two college age player from different colleges did the same thing. We have had two horn players drop from our orchestra this season without a word of "good bye." The first one had been our principal horn for the last two years. He just decided he didn't want to come back. Fair enough it's a volunteer group. After two weeks without seeing him, getting no response to phone calls or e-mails (though his Facebook Page was still active) we gave up on him. We were short one horn for the last two performances, the conductor arranged for a college student who had a solid reputation to fill in. It was a three hour drive, but she lived here and we figured she could cover both concerts on trips home. She showed up for the first concert, yesterday no show, no word no reply till late in the day. For a group such as ours, it doesn't matter why you don't want to continue. Just demonstrate professionalism and tell folks you aren't going to be there. No need to say why, just let the folks know not to expect you. Your request is, of course, what we would expect from any performer. Unfortunately, performers don't always measure up to expectations. About four decades ago a colleague (who has now been employed professionally most of the subsequent time on Broadway) decided to fix certain problems in an entirely amateur mostly-student group. He became personnel manager, and succeeded. This was his scheme. Members, mostly full-time students at a very-high-pressure university, were expected to be at all rehearsals unless they gave prior notification. So, my colleague simply took attendence a short time into each rehearsal, went downstairs to the office (this was in an age before cell phones) and telephoned evryone who was missing. He explained that they were missed, and wanted to know if everything was OK. He _didn't_ criticize, or ask anyone to drop what they were doing and come to rehearsal. He merely let them know that their absence was noticed, and that they were missed. It is hard to exaggerate how well this simple strategy worked. When one knows one will be missed, one tends not to be missing. Even if one is 3rd-chair 3rd clarinet or fifth-stand second violin, inside. Of course, when a performer misses an performance, or a principal chair misses a rehearsal without previously arranging substitution, that person better have a good explanation (kidnapping, hurricane, nuclear war) or else noe expect future engagements _anywhere_ after word gets out. But the simple feeling that a player is missed when absent does wonders for the rehearsal attendance. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/bgross%40airmail.ne t _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
