Recruitment Policy – Orchestra Members

 

 

 

This document outlines Luminosa Music’s policy on recruitment and the audition process.  This was agreed at a board meeting of the Charity Trustees on December 9th 2021 with reference to the artistic committee and an industry standard approach to recruitment of musicians.

 

Revised January 2026.

 

• All musicians working with Luminosa are freelance and are not employed by the company. 

• Our current membership is comprised of those who started the orchestra and who didn’t audition and those who have attended and been successful at auditions in 2020 and 2021. Those founding members will not be asked to audition for their places.

• As of February 2020,  any tutti places will only be offered to those who have been successful at audition or peer invited professionals.

• Further auditions will take place on the basis that we need to fill certain posts for a panel of subs who will be asked in rotation as per our requirements for particular desks.  This will depend on the availability of those tutti members asked first. 

• The names of those tutti members who are asked first, is at the discretion of the Artistic Director in liaison with section principals, with consideration to sound balance / blending and repertoire and level of expertise.

• Any tutti musician who has taken part in a project is not guaranteed work on any subsequent project.

• As they arise, all vacancies for the panel of subs will be advertised publicly, for a period of at least 4 weeks, through the website, personal contacts and other media as appropriate. Applications will be invited on a fair and open basis.

• If the Artistic Committee considers it necessary, a short list will be complied to establish who should be auditioned. All short listed applicants will be required to attend an audition.

• We may invite soloists or tutti members to perform by invitation on a project basis where their reputations can be verified by our professional peers. In this case, they do not need to audition.

• Auditions are in front of a panel of judges a minimum of three, one of whom should be an independent professional peer and with a suitable gender balance within and always including the Artistic Director.

• The auditions will be held ‘blind’ meaning that the judging panel cannot see the auditionee, only hear them.  This is to ensure the eradication of any type of discrimination whether that be gender, race or any other.

• All auditionees will have a choice of the same pieces from a list which can be accessed upon publication of the open call.