It’s a little silly to say I “married” an orchestra, but that’s kind of what I feel like. I want to tell you a little bit about the process of getting tenure in a professional symphony orchestra. For those of you who aren’t on a symphonic career path, it’s a look behind the curtain. And for those who are, hopefully I can offer a little helpful advice from someone who just finished the journey.

I took a very long hiatus from YouTube…nearly a year. I had been doing “Audition Chronicles” videos, where I talked about my experience on the audition circuit. The first two of the season, I got nowhere. But I was still relatively green at this. Then for the third video, I took a trip up north for an audition, and finally I advanced in a professional orchestra audition! I was so happy. I didn’t make finals, but I figured maybe I was on the right track.

A couple of months later, give or take, I began to film a diary of my audition for Associate Principal Cello of the Jacksonville Symphony, and I never ended up finishing the video…because I ended up getting the job, and my focus turned to doing the best work I could in the orchestra. I needed to prove myself a worthy holder of this position. And I was definitely on edge for awhile. When I started this job, I was on what’s known as a probationary contract. I think of it facetiously as an “engagement” before the metaphorical marriage that is tenure. It brings me onboard, but with strings attached. Well, I’m a cellist, so I always have 4 strings attached, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, it provides for a clean break if the orchestra does not find me to be a good fit. If the powers that be didn’t want me in the orchestra, there was not going to be any involved process for my termination, just a sad goodbye.

But once tenure is granted, you’re in. That doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want and not care about your job anymore, but it does mean that you can take comfort in very strong job security. It was a stressful process to get there, filled with countless episodes of paralyzing self-doubt, innumerable flashbacks to minor mistakes, and general worry. But despite plenty of mistakes here and there, certainly overblown in my mind, it was decided that I should stay, and I was elated (still am). To take you through this process a little more, I’m including the video I made for my triumphant return to YouTube:

I want to hear your thoughts, especially if you are about to go through this process and you want some advice. People gave me great advice as I was navigating it, and I want to pay it forward.