With hundreds of supertalented musicians pursuing what at best might be a few dozen positions for their instrument, competition for symphony orchestra jobs is, to say the least, fierce.
“So, when you see something advertised in a good orchestra that’s full-time with benefits, you go,” said Brook Ellen Schoenwald. “You live where you end up. You don’t really get to choose.”
More than 300 people applied for the CSO’s three open positions, and the 29-year-old flutist was among 149 who traveled to Denver for grueling on-stage auditions earlier this year.
In her case, the effort paid off. She was chosen as the orchestra’s new principal flutist, replacing Pamela Endsley, who left last season after 43 years with the orchestra.
Schoenwald is the third musician to step into a principal post in the past three years, joining principal trumpeter Justin Bartels and principal cellist Silver Ainomäe — a transformation that is significantly reshaping the orchestra.
The other new appointees this season are Rachel Harding-Klaus, 28, assistant concertmaster, and Nicholas Recuber, 29, assistant principal bassist. All three must complete a two-year probation required of all hires before becoming permanent.
Two of the new musicians were formerly members of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, a highly respected preprofessional training orchestra with a strong record of placing its alumni in professional orchestras.
Schoenwald, who earned her master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, joined the New World in 2007, after serving as principal flutist of the Delaware Symphony and acting principal flutist of the Knoxville (Tenn.) Symphony.
“You’re there to work,” she said. “You’re there to practice, and your colleagues are all fired up about it, as well, so you get this energy that feeds off each other.”
During their intense tenures with the New World, players become comfortable with who they are as musicians and gain all-important confidence.
“That’s when people start being successful,” Schoenwald said, “when the sum of all their experience and preparation culminates in becoming extremely competitive at these auditions.”
The symphony also hired two other musicians as one-season replacements: Aaron Apaza, second assistant principal bassoon, and Rachel Childers, assistant horn.
