The Met’s concertmaster: An orchestra is not a democracy

There’s a fascinating new interview on the Met musicians’ website with concertmaster David Chan, a Tchaikovsky prize winner from San Diego. Among other things, David says:

I think the thing is – and I say this in the best possible sense – an orchestra is not a democracy. It’s a hierarchy; it’s set up that way. Ultimately, what the conductor says is what goes. But there are things that are not directly addressed by the conductor. Then, maybe the principal player has to make certain decisions. So when you have an orchestra full of great players and great people, everyone respects the structure and the process and it’s not really an issue. One thing we pride ourselves on at the Met is that there is a lot of commitment in our playing.

Read the full interview here.