How to go to jail. Or attend a Met audition
NewsHere is what prospective principal players are being told before they attend auditions at the Metropolitan Opera.
Belts and braces to be left at the door.
Dear…
Your …. audition time is scheduled for: … between 1:00pm – 2:00pm. You may arrive as early as 12pm to prepare for the audition.
At this time we anticipate both semi-finals & finals will take place on Tuesday…
The Metropolitan Opera House is located at Lincoln Center. The easiest way to the MET Stagedoor is the entrance at Amsterdam Avenue & West 64th Street. This is next to the Bruno Walter Auditorium and across the street from LaGuardia High School. If you have any questions, there are uniformed security guards in the area who can direct you.
When entering the stagedoor you must have a facemask on and be prepared to show the security guard your vaccination card (2 vaccinations & 1 booster) and a form of photo i.d.
The jury is asking everyone to wear a mask during the audition. We understand that this is not the most comfortable thing to do but for the safety of the jury and for all the applicants this is our decision.
If you are looking for overnight accommodations the two closest hotels are to follow. Please contact me for more options.
The Empire Hotel…44 West 63 Street www.empirehotelnyc.com
Hotel Beacon…2130 Broadway @ W.75 http://www.beaconhotel.com/
Candidates are responsible to prepare all of the excerpts and there is the possibility of sight-reading. Metronome indications (where provided) are only a guideline to performance tempos. The MET tunes to A=440.
Remember to bring the piano part with you for the Concerto for Violin Nr. 5 in A Major, K. 219. You may not need it for the preliminary round, but we want you to be ready for anything.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Office Manager – Orchestra
The Metropolitan Opera
This sounds simply like current standard and professional practice. They even offer help to find close hotels!
They sure must think the players are well off. One hotel they recommend wants 329 USD for the night, the other, can you believe it, 550 USD. Do you reckon old Pete at the Met is gettin a cut? As for auditioning with a mask on… Rather that some conductors they use would be better wearing full masks to hide their miserable identities (and old Pete too).
They could spend closer to $200 and share a communal bathroom at the Pod Hotel https://www.thepodhotel.com
Unfortunately, those hotel rates are not high but typical for NYC.
They simply listed the two closest hotels. No one is required to stay there. Here’s a news flash for you: hotels near the Met are expensive. Everything near the Met is expensive. That has something to do with why the Met pays as much as it does. Feel free to stay somewhere cheaper in New Jersey; I’m sure you’ll play your best after making the trip to the Met!
You really think that Gelb is in cahoots with the local hotels? What’s the matter with you – and how long will you be angry because you never got a job with a professional orchestra and you’re still a secretary at an insurance company?
…what’s the problem?
You have to show ID to get into a public building with access control. Not exactly Alcatraz, is it?
Yes, but not to vote in a national election, though. Go figure!!!
Breaking: Invitation-only auditions and popular elections are different. News at 11.
Yes, the election is more important. Proper identification should be required.
Please tell me that you are being facetious and you are not truly this obtuse.
Your comment makes no sense. Are you really implying that one should have to show ID for an audition, but not to verify that they are a citizen of a country and thus allowed to vote?
There is no ID available to everyone eligible to vote which unambiguously demonstrates that they are in fact allowed to vote.
Not a constitutional right to play the audition.
I don’t see anything particularly shocking about this. The face mask requirement might be unreasonable for a wind player, but this seems to be a violin audition. The instructions seem fairly comprehensive and clear overall.
But assuming there is a screen/the jury are more than 6 feet away, how is a face mask necessary for the safety of the jury?
I don’t see what the problem is…An orchestra audition is not a walk in the park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The guidelines mentioned here are very similar to other orchestras. On a personal note, if a candidate finds these rules to be tough, that person should not take the audition at all.
I will add also, that the demoralizing brutality of orchestra auditions is mostly not an Orchestra institution’s fault; There is simply an oversaturation of over-qualified musicians in a society in which most of its people are unable to enjoy classical music, much less take an active interest in it.
Ehm…I don’t see anything strange or remarkable in the letter. 🙂 Well, maybe that the mentioned hotels are quite costly, but I guess that’s Manhattan.
The easiest escape from New York is a plane, car, bus, or train.
If you only have a bike, please, be patient.
If you rely on your legs, run.
When escaping, remember to avoid California, Portlandia, and any city/state ruled by the Woke Mob.
I’ll go with Snake Plissken, thank you.
Whine whine whine. If we ever have to fight another real war, and you people actually need to endure real hardship for your country, gods help us all.
Yes, anyone afraid of the “woke mob” should indeed stay away from any of the places allegedly ruled them. We’ll all be happier!
“We’ll all be happier!”
No you won’t. You’ll turn on each other.
Two vaccinations AND a booster AND a mask. The Met is being run by leftist nut jobs. Why would you want to work for them.
Because the music is left, center and right, and it’s all that matters.
Wrong, music does not surpass human rights nor freedom from tyranny in importance.
I don’t understand your comment. What do you mean?
It’s not just the MET!
I tried to go to an opera at Vienna State Opera earlier this year. They wanted a vax certificate, and mask, which had to be an FFP2 (N95) AND proof of a negative PCR test that was valid for the length of the opera. That was just to be in the audience!
Then I went to Berlin Deutsche Opera & there was a huge group of people milling around outside.They had tickets but couldn’t get in because they didn’t have up-to-date vax cards or PCR test results. I happened to have my vax card with the QR code & I got a great stand by seat at the last minute because so many people couldn’t get in.
Definitely not unique to the MET.
Many will have seen this, but a reminder of the idiocies foisted on our younger musicians.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSceptics/comments/wxi9tf/what_possible_wonders_of_the_science_could_2023/
What, exactly, is your concern here, Norman? It seems reasonable, considering the fact that the covid virus is still very much a problem.
Why on earth would a mask be required during the actual audition, if the jury are more than 6 feet away/behind a screen…?
Why assume there is a screen? That impacts the sound significantly, which is not at all conducive to an audition. Distance of 6 feet is something to remember outdoors, but infections occur no matter the distance indoors, which is where the auditions are being held.
You do realize the Met is well known for keeping the screen up to the very end… It doesn’t even come down for the finals round.
Your assertions about viral transmission are incorrect, as well.
Seems pretty innocuous. They keep it as fair, and currently as safe, as can be by removing as many risks and ‘isms’. It’s a fully screened audition with an insurmountable amount of quality control. This is also the instructions for the associate concertmaster audition, which is a fairly important post.
Interesting that those auditioning must be boosted. The Met discontinued requiring audiences to be boosted some months ago. The Met recently sent out an email informing patrons that next season no proof of the jab will need to be shown in order to enter the house though masks will continue to be required. During ballet season in June and July enforcement inside the auditorium was lax.
Which is why I stopped going
This sounds very reasonable to me. The Met has a vaccination policy, and needs applicants to respect that. I assume that anyone using that entrance must be masked as well, including deliveries, etc. The organization is looking after their employees – good!
Patrons are no longer required to be vaxxed; why should musicians be?
If a patron gets sick from catching Covid at the Met, the show will still go on. If a performer gets sick, a sub will need to be hired.
Patrons don’t need a Met employee ID, or to file a W-9 form, either. Employees and customers are typically treated differently even when there is no pandemic. And as you are not a Met employee, it is of little consequence to you whether the Met requires this of their employees.
Fair enough to let them know the expectations in advance.
A440? I supposed that’s a demand from the opera singers union.
I am not sure what your point is? The instructions read very clearly to me , laying out all expectations. Many taking auditions prefer detailed instructions so as not to be confused or nervous about finding the venue and understanding the procedures and thus adding to nerves over the audition playing itself.
Many venues in the US still have mask rules in place for employees and patrons. Perhaps this is not the norm in the UK, but with a wide variety of protocols here, it is good to be informed.
It is most certainly not the norm in the UK, and never has been. Even throughout 2020, it was accepted that the masks come off while in the act of rehearsing or performing (with the possible exception of the page-turner). Much like a sport, singing or playing an instrument is an intensely physical activity, and trying to undertake it with all that extra carbon dioxide and moisture trapped by a mask is unhealthy and potentially dangerous (especially if the mask is not changed every hour or two)… and the preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that masks do not even stop COVID-19 in any case.
Masks don’t impede the flow of carbon dioxide or oxygen in any significant way, any more than your screen door traps carbon dioxide in the house. With the aid of a cooperative nurse I took blood oxygenation readings before and after taking elevator to 4th floor of the building where I see the doctor, and before and after running up the steps to the 4th floor. All readings were the standard 99%, whether or not I was wearing an N95 mask or no mask at all.
I see you’ve never tried to sing in one.
I’ve never tried to swim while wearing one, either. No singing required in these auditions.
What a wonderful world……
Norman, please. Your snark here is unnecessary… The MET is here trying to protect the community by doing the two things that we know stops the spread dead in its tracks – vaccines and masks. Trying to imply that these measures are “over the top” constitutes pandemic denial of the worst sort. You’re better than that.
Vaccines and masks “stop spread dead in its tracks.” That’s the funniest thing I’ve read since…. “rare breakthrough infections” among vaccinated began to be reported last summer.
Stops the spread dead in its tracks? Are you out of your pea-sized little mind? Good lord, that’s frightening.
Neither vaccines or mask have been scientifically proven to prevent the spread of covid. Pls stahp this craziness
How does a mask protect a jury that is more than 6 feet away/behind a screen?
If you sit down at one end of a room, more than 6 feet away from another individual, and said individual lights a cigarette or cigar, are you eventually able to smell the smoke? Discuss.
After everything that has happened and come out over the last couple years, how on earth can you still claim that the vax/masks “stops the spread dead in its tracks”? What rock are you living under? Even corrupt health authorities no longer make such claims.
We know now that vaccinations do not “stop the disease dead in its tracks.” You can be vaccinated and still both spread the virus and get the virus. I know. I’m vaccinated and I’ve had Covid twice since then. What vaccination does is make the symptoms less severe. Let’s at least deal in facts. Vaccine mandates at this stage make no sense.
Yet another example of a clickbait headline that has no real relationship to the content of the piece. These musicians are not being asked to do anything so draconian as the measures taken when entering prison. The Met’s covid protocols are the same as those in many other orchestras throughout North America. Keep in mind that many auditionees travel to get to the audition – which puts them at a higher risk of catching and transmitting covid. Regardless of what one thinks of covid safety protocols, remember that the Met lost both a chorus member and a musician to covid earlier in the pandemic, so any veiled snark about their covid safety protocols is, in my opinion, in extremely poor taste.
Just because “many other orchestras throughout North America” are enforcing the same hysterical protocols does not make it any less unethical, draconian or unlawful.
Furthermore, comparing a musician taking an audition to a newly-matriculating prison inmate is a poor comparison. Prisoners are(presumably) innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, judged by a jury of their peers, whereas auditioning musicians are assumed to be “guilty” from the outset and being made to prove their “innocence” with no proof of any prior “wrongdoing.”
Taking nothing away from the Met’s loss of personnel, some of your fellow colleagues have been killed by myocarditis caused by these injections, but like all of the systemic dysfunction in this industry, it is being kept quiet. I know of at least two personally, but out of respect for their families, I will not reveal their names.
The biggest problem is that they should require at least 5 booster shots. 4 are hardly enough.
You’re slacking off, Met.
Stipulations for the String Behind Orchestra are less stringent. their unique style being holding bows with bottoms, likewise conductor and baton.
This is perfect. It’s clear & complete information about what to expect. This is exactly what orch musicians like: clear instructions in advance about what they’re expected to do.
No need to call, no confusion at the entry area, no questions to ask at the audition. Everything is right there. All you have to do is concentrate on playing well. Uncertainty leads to stress. This lessens the stress factor. Well done, MET.
And, if you are one of the snowflakes who is obsessed with your “rights” not to do any of this stuff, it makes it abundantly clear that you should skip the trip. Everyone wins.
A mask mandate While Playing -when the jury is literally behind a wooden wall- is absurd. So is each violinist carting a piano part to Mozart 5. The CDC- flawed as it is- no longer differentiates between the vaxxed and the unclean masses. Met: Move on. I realize you cater to a WFH freaked out class but if you ever want to pack the hall again, time to declare normal. (oh and you can stop the woke programming shit, too; your donor base does not wanna show up to hear how evil they are.)
Masking protects the next applicant who will be standing in the exact same spot a mere two minutes later. And the applicant after that. And the applicant after that.
It is a cloth screen, not a wooden wall. Also, there are Met employees who usher the applicants to the spot that they play from, and wait nearby to pass along a question to the committee that is listening if necessary (the applicant can’t speak to them to maintain anonymity). There are also multiple employees backstage to assist with providing practice space, identifying which musical passages will be asked for, etc.
Your body, *my* choice.
MET’s hall, MET’s choice. Your body can audition elsewhere.
They will also examine your anus for monkey pox.
What’s the issue? Prior to the pandemic, this is how the Met’s audition instructions normally read.
The strangest thing to me is making people bring their own Mozart piano part (???) Surely the org could provide the pianist with one part for everyone ♀️
The requirements are fine and common, even standard procedure nowadays in the states. However, some of the grammar/wording in the letter is just amateurish in my opinion. There’s a better way to describe “be ready for anything” in my opinion. And “candidates are responsible to prepare….?” I think it’s “…for preparing”.