83 posts
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Post by catqc on Apr 20, 2016 19:56:49 GMT
Have been thinking about orchestras recently and realised how little I know about them. Do they have "understudies" for each instrument? What happens when someone is on holiday? What about the conductor?
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Post by firefingers on Apr 20, 2016 21:53:57 GMT
Orchestras members (along with the technical crew) will have deps (I guess short for deputies). These people come in and cover the part when someone is on holiday/ill etc. It is very difficult work to get into, as convincing someone you won't balls up a big show is a real challenge. A friend is a keyboard dep on a long running West End show, and it took him years to get a chance to prove himself. Often people will dep in several shows, and a person will have several deps to choose from to allow for unavailability. I started my career depping as a sound operator, as it is a great way to learn the ropes whilst being open to more permanent work, and with no contract, you can leave whenever or they could sack you if you can't hack it.
Sometimes someone in the company will perform the vacated track, and a dep brought in to cover them. If the MD plays Keys 1, the Assistant MD may well play Keys 2, and be "promoted" to Key's 1 to cover the MD'S holidays, as he knows the show best. A dep would then come in to play Keys 2.
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243 posts
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Post by musicallady on Apr 21, 2016 14:22:24 GMT
I'll ask my brother how it works as he's MD of English National Ballet so he should know
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