Around the 1st of August 2011, Ross and I were leaving for Maine to host our wedding on Peaks Island on August 13th.
Then I got an email from Diane Wittry, the conductor of the Allentown, PA Symphony. She was involved in setting up a cultural exchange program that would send a small group young musicians from the United States to play for one season with the Sarajevo Philharmonic in Bosnia. At the last minute, their oboist broke her leg and can't travel, so they needed to find a replacement. I thought, "what a crazy thing to do at the last minute." Especially after just getting married. But what an amazing opportunity. I sent in an audition tape, and was accepted!
Many non-musicians don't realize how difficult it is to get a job playing in a professional orchestra in the US. I've taken several auditions, a couple of them for dinky little orchestras that pay less than $10,000 per year. All of the auditions I have taken had more than 50 highly qualified applicants for one job. At about half the auditions, no one is even accepted! Everyone taking the audition has a degree in the field and has practiced specific "audition excerpts" over the course of months for many hours per day. It's insanely competitive. Don't try it at home, kids.
Having figured out that I most likely will not win any orchestral jobs that are lucrative enough to pay the bills, I've spent a lot of time thinking about other jobs that would make me just as happy. Since I love teaching, I decided to get a doctoral degree so that I can teach oboe, preferably at a college level. The only problem is that many colleges and universities want their oboe teacher to have "national" or "international performance experience". Hm....
So to be (out of the blue) offered a one year principal oboe position in a professional European orchestra, in an interesting and beautiful city, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I can't pass it up. Even if it means moving away from Ross for 10 months after just getting married :( (He has to stay in Chicago because he also has some career opportunities he can't say no to--teaching guitar at Roosevelt University and a music academy in Oswego, IL) Ross and I have been together for almost 9 years, and we have a solid enough relationship that I know things will be okay, even though I'll miss him terribly.
He'll visit me though. And hooray for Skype!
I'm ready for an adventure! I will start posting updates as soon as I can after I get to Sarajevo on September 11. Stay tuned... it may take me a few days to get my internet set up.
