New collaboration secures young musicians their first permanent contract
“I clearly remember that during my time as a student at RDAM, I missed a connection between the study environment and the job market. That is why we are launching, inspired by SDU, a scheme called ‘job guarantee,’ which offers graduate students who wish to do so the opportunity, immediately after graduation, to enter professional working life through a possible limited contract with us,” says Adam Stadnicki, Head of Music at The Danish Philharmonic Orchestra.
For although the distance between Copenhagen and Sønderborg is great, the musical ambitions are shared. The collaboration demonstrates that it is possible to build bridges across geography when it comes to creating the framework for a rich and sustainable musical life. Through the partnership, The Danish Philharmonic Orchestra has now hired two young musicians in temporary positions – violist Bengt Gilbert and cellist Jan Kozanecki – both of whom have been offered fixed-term contracts without an audition.
President of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Helene Gjerris, states:
“It is immensely refreshing to see that The Danish Philharmonic Orchestra has chosen to tackle one of the most difficult barriers for newly graduated musicians in the transition from student to professional life, and to offer them entry into a professional process based on their education at RDAM. We are delighted that these young graduates are given the chance to experience life as professional orchestral musicians outside Copenhagen, and to discover how much meaningful artistic work at the very highest level is being done in a part of the country they may not have known before.”
A baptism of fire in Esbjerg
The two newcomers faced a baptism of fire that few young musicians experience. In their very first month, they were thrown into the monumental production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in Esbjerg – a production that, in both scale and intensity, ranks among the most ambitious in Danish musical life in recent years. With six rehearsals per week over three weeks, followed by three performances of more than four and a half hours, it became an introduction to orchestral life at the highest level. The fact that the performances received excellent reviews in the Copenhagen newspapers underlined that the effort bore fruit, and that the young musicians became part of a historic milestone for the orchestra.
From festival to family concert – the full spectrum at play
After their Wagnerian baptism of fire, a musical autumn awaits them that showcases the full spectrum of what it means to be an orchestral musician. They will take part in the Rued Langgaard Festival in Ribe, where Danish late Romanticism resounds in unique surroundings. They are also involved in the orchestra’s season opening and subsequent piano concerto, both at Alsion, both with international soloists and conductors. But orchestral life is not only about the great classics. The two recent graduates will also take on a family concert, where communicating to a younger audience is at the center. And later in the autumn, they will participate in the world premiere of a new work by composer-in-residence Lil Lacy – music written specifically for the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, in which the new musicians will be right at the heart of the creative moment.
Article and photo: Casper Kalmer, The Danish Philharmonic Orchestra – adapted by RDAM.
