Concertmaster Audition

Audition Date

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

No winner will be announced from this audition date. Selected candidates from the audition day may be invited to play a week with the orchestra and perform a subsequent audition in a mutually agreeable week later in the 2019-2020 season.

Concertmaster Audition Rep List and Excerpts

Location

Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, MO. Please do NOT use the main lobby entrance on the south side of the building. Please enter the building through the NE stage door located near the intersection of 16th and Wyandotte.

Maps of Downtown Kansas City and Kauffman Center

Additional Information

In addition to a one-page résumé (due by Tuesday, October 1, 2019), applicants must send a refundable check for $100 made payable to the Kansas City Symphony no later than Friday, November 1, 2019. We will screen résumés after the Tuesday, October 1 résumé deadline and only a limited number of highly qualified applicants will be invited. Following the screening, all applicants will be notified about their invitation to attend this audition by email. Those musicians we are inviting will be given an assigned audition time only after we have received a deposit check by the above stated deadline. Invited musicians will have their deposit check returned to them at the audition or if a cancellation is made prior to one week before the audition. For those not invited, the $100 deposit will be destroyed following the audition.

This vacancy for Concertmaster is tenure track.

About the Kansas City Symphony

The Kansas City Symphony aspires to be a destination for the world’s best musicians. As the largest performing arts organization in the Kansas City region, the Symphony seeks to transform hearts, minds and communities through the power of symphonic music. During its 42-week season, the Symphony performs a wide variety of Classical subscription, educational, special and outreach concerts. In addition, the Kansas City Symphony performs for virtually all productions of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet.

The KCS performs in the beautiful Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a space internationally recognized for its world-class acoustics.  Kansas City and its suburbs have been ranked as among the best places to live in the USA, and the KC metro area is estimated to have cost of living that is 85-90% of the national average. Kansas City is remarkably sophisticated, has very strong support for the arts, a generous philanthropic community, easy traffic and great restaurants.

The KCS has an enviable record of financial stability for years, and in 2017 completed a $55 million endowment campaign that will bring the Symphony’s endowment to approximately $100 million.  The KCS also has long-term stability in its artistic and administrative staff, and an excellent and highly-engaged Board of Directors. The culture of the Kansas City Symphony is expressed in our core values of excellence, trust, and respect, and there are outstanding relations between the musicians, staff, and board.

Benefits for all orchestra positions include:

• 42 week season
• 2019-2020 season annual base salary is $61,908 (including $33/wk Electronic Media Guarantee)
• An additional week of salary is available to each musician for participation in the popular Community Connections program. Participation is optional.
• Health Insurance coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield with $0 in-network deductible, $20 in-network co-pays, and an annual out-of-pocket maximum of only $750.
• Dental, Life & ADD, Instrument, and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Up to 12-week paid maternity/paternity leave
• 19 days paid vacation per season
• Three personal days per season, accumulating to 9
• One relief week per season, plus 4 discretionary relief days
• 5.45% Pension Contribution to the AFM-EPF
• 2% Contribution to 403b with additional matching provisions available up to another 1.5%

Since the 2010-2011 season, the annual base compensation has increased by 31% and will increase an additional 9% from 2019 to 2021.