Arts Josh Roman Has Quit the Seattle Symphony
posted by on January 30 at 14:52 PM
Here’s the letter he just sent out:
Dear Friends and Family,
I am writing to let you know of my decision to leave the Seattle Symphony following the current 07-08 season. I informed the orchestra management of this decision yesterday. I thought it would be nice to tell all of you myself, instead of you hearing the news from others. This email was the best way I could come up with. In any case:
This decision comes at an exciting time for me. I have had so many opportunities since I came to the Seattle Symphony, and lately I have been taking more solo and chamber engagements here and elsewhere. I really appreciate the willingness of the Seattle Symphony to have placed so much faith in me at this critical point in my career.
I will miss many of the friends that I have made here, including two of the musicians that I sit next to almost every week; my stand partner, Susan Williams, and the charming man who sits next to me in the violins, John Weller. There are many more in the cello section, orchestra, staff, and around the city that I will remember fondly. My sincere hope is that our relationships will be lasting and flourish no matter where our roads take us.
As much as I have loved my time in Seattle, it is very important for me to keep a strong focus and commitment to my goals, and the foremost musical goal I have is to become the best cellist I can be. To that end, I will be doing tons of traveling over the next years, listening to many great musicians, practicing hard, performing a lot, and doing other cool stuff too. I plan to return to Seattle frequently and I already have several engagements here next season. Seattle is like a home to me; I love this place and the people I’ve met here!
I thank all of you for your support, especially my family, who has always thought that I was a bit nuts to want this life, but has supported me in everything nonetheless. It is because of this support that I am able to carry on and I hope to make the best of every opportunity and trust I am given.
All the best to all of you-
Joshua Roman
I'm playing the world's smallest violin right now.
No loveletter to Maestro Schwarz.
Hmmm.
Next up: European stadium tour with Tad supporting.
Who gives a damn?
Oh God... NO!
Roman is the next Ma. Good for him for not wanting to gather moss. Just hope he doesn't end up in Kansas City.
Look! I made a sportsball joke! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
It is important to the extent that Josh was pulling a big following into SSO, including a lot of younger people, which the aging demo of the Symphony desperately needs.
Losing Roman could put a rather sizeable dent in their already shaky financial situation, if people who have been coming specifically because of him decide to sit out, and at a time when SSO simply can't afford any significant loss of revenue.
wow. That's ... wow.
Now, I do enjoy the variety of his programing [usually], but having worked for SSO in the past, it's a well known fact that it was only a matter of time before Gerry bullied our tops out of there.
@ 7)
"... and at a time when SSO simply can't afford any significant loss of revenue."
They could also cut off Schwartz's kick-backs and cut the douche's salary (I don't care how big his Queen Anne mortgage payment is. He's unbelievably overpaid) ...
or
They could stop spending tens of thousands of dollars on useless marketing consultants. (I still cannot believe that the board allows shit like this to happen.)
Just a couple of suggestions.
Roman is positioned to become a major international star of the classical world. As his letter implies, one of the keys to making this happen will be frequent touring and promoting himself as an individual performer first and foremost. It's a loss for Seattle symphony fans, but he will be back as a featured performer (and will probably get to exercise more control over the pieces he's playing as his status as a superstar grows.)
He's a tremendous talent and a genuinely nice guy and he deserves every bit of this.
Well, I'm glad I saw him play a few times while he was here. I didn't think he'd be around much longer.
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