The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is crowing at having grabbed principal flute David Buck from the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The reasons for the move are unexplained. Maybe all the sunshine, the orange juice and the wonderful Disney Hall just got too much for a player who’d always wanted to work in Motown. Who knows? Maybe his name was Buick all along.
Buck, 30, from Philadelphia, was named #1 flute of the LA Phil by Gustavo Dudamel in 2010.
Like any good football team, the DSO is parading its top signings;
Teddy Abrams, assistant conductor
Monica Fosnaugh, English horn
Sheryl Hwangbo, violin
Rachel Harding Klaus, violin
David LeDoux, cello
Peter McCaffrey, cello
Yoonshin Song, concertmaster
Johanna Yarbrough, French horn
Buck reportedly didn’t get tenure in LA. http://myauditions.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/517106096/m/453000527001
LA seems to be having some serious flute issues. Let’s just say the problem does not appear to be Maestro Dudamel.
David Buck was preceded by Mathieu Dufour, who also left, decidedly by his own choice, after a similarly brief tenure with L.A. He is now Principal Flute in Chicago: .http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/01/flutist-mathieu-dufour-to-return-to-chicago-symphony-orchestra.html
David Buck holds impeccable credentials. He came to LA from his Principal Flute position in Oregon Symphony. He was personally hired there by Maestro Carlos Kalmar, who is notoriously finicky, albeit down-
right brutal about his preferences for 1st flute. (Kalmar ran Buck’s predecessor out of her position as Ore’s Princ. Flute with a brutal lawsuit, leaving her penniless after over 20 yrs. of service in Ore.).
Besides the Principal turnover, LA is also having trouble retaining a second flute. Last year, auditions were held and Jacqueline Arrington, a University of Michigan grad. and former Fulbright Scholar to Germany, was declared the winner. Ms. Arrington was given a 12 day trial with the orchestra and was not hired. Ms. Arrington, incidentally, is African-American. Scroll down for her bio here:
http://allisyar.com/2011/07/02/la-phil-comings-and-goings-part-3-of-3-new-faces-and-two-familiar-ones-come-to-town/
Just a few weeks ago another 2nd flute audition was held and another U. of Michigan grad. won – Elise Shopes of Texas. Word is that she has been offered the position permanently with no trial.
http://allisyar.com/2012/08/18/unofficial-announcements-los-angeles-gets-yet-another-new-flutist-and-orange-county-gets-their-music-critic-back/
In October LA Phil will hold auditions for Principal Flute to replace Mr. Buck. There has been so much controversy over this position – 2 highly qualified Principal Flutists have fled the orchestra in just 2 yrs. – that many are speculating that that there must be an agenda. Considering the ongoing problems in the section, which apparently began even before Mr. Dufour’s arrival, it’s starting to look like someone in the section might have their eye on the Principal job and is making it difficult for anyone else win or remain in the job.
LA is a major orch. These type of audition shenagans should not be going on when qualified young flutists are paying small fortunes out of meager earnings to attend these auditions, preparing within an inch of their lives, sincerely believing they have a chance at winning.Yes, it happens everywhere. But it becomes painfully obvious that something is dreadfully wrong with LAPhil’s audition system or perhaps the flute section itself when major flutists like David Buck and Mathieu Dufour are sent running from the orch. in such a short time.
Dear Papageno,i totally agree with you except for one fact: Mathieu Dufour wasn`t sent running,he wanted to stay in Chicago.
It’s utter nonsense to link what happened in the Dufour situation to Buck’s. One left, the other didn’t pass the probationary period.
Matthieu returned to the CSO because he had a great job there with one of the world’s best orchestras, his then-fiancee didn’t like living in LA, and he just decided the LA phil wasn’t a good fit for him. No shocker.
Buck, on the other hand, although a very good flutist, was not the artist the orchestra felt it needed going forward. As simple as that. Of course he’s”qualified”- he won the audition. But the audition process includes a two year probationary period, to determine just this sort of thing- whether there is really a good artistic fit with the orchestra- things you can’t determine at an audition.
I can assure you no one was more disappointed than we orchestra members that David wasn’t ‘the guy’, but the majority of us recognized that he wasn’t.
Please stop this nonsensical gossipy speculation about “audition shenannigans”, and conspiracy theories. It’s the nature of the beast. Sometimes the best auditioner is not the best musician for a given position.
I am also a member of the LA Phil, and I can assure you that the majority of the orchestra was shocked and upset that David Buck was denied tenure. While I understand your (LAguy’s) frustration with people speculating about LA Phil’s “audition shenannigans”, I think it is really below the belt to smudge someone’s professional reputation in a public forum, especially when what you’re saying is completely untrue. Yes, David Buck was denied tenure, but it is simply not true that there was a recognition by the majority of the orchestra that he wasn’t ‘the guy’.
Thanks for again affirming that he is in fact feckless.
Papageno, whoever you are, get your facts straight. Kalmar did NOT use a brutal lawsuit to get rid of Dawn Weiss and she was NOT penniless when she left the Oregon Symphony.
Yes, you’re absolutely right, Elaine. He fired her. After 27 years.
Here’s a better description, from the Portland Monthly (complete article in link below quote):
“In October 2005, Kalmar grew impatient with his principal flutist, 53-year-old Dawn Weiss, a 27-year symphony veteran. According to the Oregonian, Kalmar “informed her that her playing was unacceptable,” and gave her six months to change her playing style, after which he would decide if she could stay. In April 2006, Kalmar took a measure almost unheard-of in the polite world of classical music—he fired Weiss. “That was not a gentle move,” Shirk says, “and six other musicians also left, voluntarily.” ”
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/arts-and-entertainment/articles/arts-entertainment2-0909/5/
Considering the financial expenditures, described below, which she made to avert the firing during the 6 month probation he gave her to “shape up”, I’d imagine it did not leave her a particularly wealthy woman. The damage to her career, her earning potential must have been substantial.
http://classicalmusicguide.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6763
More on the topic.
http://myauditions.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2256096313/m/19310366421
Oregon shoved this under the rug. It wasn’t handled well, and Kalmar later admitted that himself.
Loved that article from Portland Monthly about Kalmar. Norman, it has a reference to Maestro Myth on page 6:
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/arts-and-entertainment/articles/arts-entertainment2-0909/6
All I can say is musicians (and anyone else) that fawn over a person like Kalmar as described in the article are pathetic, weak minded sheep.
tks!
While it`s really good news that Detroit after all the mess the orchestra has been going through still can attract top musicians like Mr.Buck (what a brave bunch of musicians theDSO members have been,and they are still a world class orchestra,believe me!), i`m really shocked about the stories about Oregon Symphony Music Director Carlos Kalmar. Both Mrs.Weiss and Mr.Sauter were top notch players,and while I ´ve always admired the playing of this orchestra (over the last two decades we should have get accustomed to speak about the big 15 or 20 instead of the big five),the conducting of Mr.Kalmar,on the base of listening to some streamed concerts, I found very inconsistent(some very good,some very disappointing!).
Papageno makes some thinly veiled allegations that don’t appear in either My Auditions or All is Yar: “Considering the ongoing problems in the section, which apparently began even before Mr. Dufour’s arrival, it’s starting to look like someone in the section might have their eye on the Principal job and is making it difficult for anyone else win or remain in the job.”
So Papageno is essentially calling out Catherine Ransom Karoly, LAPO’s Associate Principal Flute who had previously been 2nd flute before being promoted in 2009. She’s been sitting first chair for at least a year longer than that since one former Principal resigned after 20 years (Janet Ferguson) and another retired after 30+ years (Ann Diener Zentner). Wonder if Papageno blames their departure on Ransom Karoly also.
Beyond that, he seems to be linking the 2nd flute position to the issues with Principal. Not sure that is fair, even if the above allegations are true. LAPO has a very solid history, especially the past few years, of making hires after auditions, often without a trial. The latest audition for 2nd flute won by Elise Shope (NOT Shopes) is only the latest example of that.