Kyu-Young Kim, principal second violinist of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, has won an audition to join the NY Philharmonic. He is one of several who are leaving town since the orchestra management slammed down the shutters in October in a bid to slash wages by up to two-thirds. His success demonstrates the quality of players in the besieged ensembles.
One by one, musicians are leaving St Paul and Minneapolis, draining creative life from the twin cities. It’s a cultural tragedy, scripted by a pair of tough-talking boards and feeble managements.
See also here for a musician who fled still further.
Mazel Tov to Mr. Kim. Great players will find work even in this tight market. I worry about the other
folks who may not be so lucky.
He is a brilliant violinist and was concertmaster of the Curtis Orchestra in the early 90s performing the solo part in Ein Heldenleben in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia under Otto Werner Mueller. A true loss for SPCO but a great addition for NYPhil. Players on this level will not stay where they are not appreciated. Very sad for the Twin Cities.
Bravo. The best response to uneducated, overbearing management is to simply walk away. The current management attitude trend is something along the lines of : “these musicians are a dime-a-dozen”, and easily replaced by some recent graduate. Very poor assumption! Keeping this type of management at the helm is no different than handing the keys for your Ferrari to a trash collector. My sympathies go out to the St Paul-Minneapolis community.
Bravo, Mr. Kim- success is the best revenge.
Our loss in the Twin Cities is New York’s gain. Best of luck to Mr. Kim.
Glad to welcome Mr. Kim to NYC. But it’s another loss to my old community in the Twin Cities.
This madness has to end.
The comments above echo my thinking. Cream does rise to the top.
The only answer is to get rid of Henson,very boring CEO
……..And we at the Tonhalle Orchestra were very pleased to welcome Peter McGuire, who joinsed us on 1 February as Assistant Concert Master, from the Minnesota Orchestra, where he held the same position……..
Kyu has been a vibrant part of the SPCO in the last year, and a huge supporter of the musicians and of audience advocates. It was not a good day yesterday when I heard this news.
But the Board is convinced per their “PR” response that “fiscal sustainability” will enable them to attract talent like this because playing for a farm team will be such a big plus. I want what they are smoking; maybe my head will hurt less.
Yes, surely at conservatories across this country right now, classical music students are not discussing their dream jobs in the big 5, the MET, under an MTT or Dudamel. Clearly they are dreaming of ‘fiscally responsible’ destination orchestras like Louisville or Spokane, Atlanta or Indy.
Kyu-Young, congratulations on your splendid achievement ! You have a great future.
I’m thinking that from a business point of view, a successful business manufacturing a product is not only made up of skilled individuals but also that they work well as a team. We learned that lesson in manufacturing too late decades ago.
So how is an orchestra any different, except that the only way it is successful is as a cohesive ensemble where the skills and talents of the individuals are counted upon by everyone.
That musicians are a dime a dozen is an arrogant and fallacious assumption. Now that it has been made- any skilled musician knows how the ground in the Twin Cities lays.
The interesting thing is that the Boards and Mr. Henson so enjoy the opulence of their perches that they are failing to realize that what is supporting them is eroding day by day and they had best sprout wings.
I congratulate all the fine musicians that have found a place to be, and hope and pray that the same can happen for the others.