Auditioning the Audition Process

Jan 24 2007
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Tanya Ell
Tanya Ell

28-year-old cellist Tanya Ell has proven her impressive musical range and abilities, as soloist and chamber musician, on stages around the globe. Currently the youngest cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra, Ms. Ell has already performed with such notable musicians as Edgar Meyer (in Schubert's "Trout" Quintet at the Banff Centre), the Juilliard and Miró String Quartets, and Anthony Marwood of the Florestan Trio. She has appeared as soloist in the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, conducted by Lynn Harrell; last season she performed the C.P.E. Bach Double Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony, where she was Assistant Acting Principal Cellist from 2003 to 2006. Ms. Ell's concerts have taken her to Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Barbados, and many parts of the United States and Canada.

A child of two musicians, Ms. Ell began the cello at age four, studying with Louis Potter Jr. in her native Michigan. Among the eminent musicians she worked with as a student are Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, Richard Goode, and Robert Mann. (*see below) Ms. Ell subsequently went on to the Juilliard School in New York as a scholarship student of Aldo Parisot, receiving her Bachelor's Degree in 2000. While in New York, she performed in such prestigious venues as Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Merkin Recital Hall. In addition, she was a member of the Vaux Quartet, often representing the Juilliard School in concerts around the country. The Quartet was also chosen to perform at the school's commencement ceremony, an honor given to only one student group each year. Outside of her soloistic pursuits, Ms. Ell also gave dozens of concerts in hospitals, nursing homes and inner city schools in New York as part of her commitment to community outreach.

Ms. Ell completed her education with Shauna Rolston in Toronto, and with Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her Master's Degree in 2003. She currently resides in Cleveland with her two cats, and plays on a cello made for her in 1992 by David Burgess.

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It is true that facilitating a standard recording procedure between orchestras would save people money and the hassle of travel. Those are two of the problems that have been identified with the current process. There would be little difference in my mind, between having 12 minutes to demonstrate the most difficult moments in orchestral literature for a set of microphones or a committee behind a screen. This form of a preliminary would still be testing skills not needed on the job, in an environment that has nothing to do with the way a person would handle themselves on the job. In this way, we are still faced with the problem of potentially passing over candidates who might be wonderful additions to an orchestra, and passing others into the next round who are very good at solitary performances of excerpts and concerti expositions but do not have the skills of flexibility or blending.

Spending more time with semifinalists for interviews and trial weeks seems to make sense. Why not get to know the candidates thoroughly before hiring them for a two year probation?

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Tanya Ell
Tanya Ell

28-year-old cellist Tanya Ell has proven her impressive musical range and abilities, as soloist and chamber musician, on stages around the globe. Currently the youngest cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra, Ms. Ell has already performed with such notable musicians as Edgar Meyer (in Schubert's "Trout" Quintet at the Banff Centre), the Juilliard and Miró String Quartets, and Anthony Marwood of the Florestan Trio. She has appeared as soloist in the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, conducted by Lynn Harrell; last season she performed the C.P.E. Bach Double Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony, where she was Assistant Acting Principal Cellist from 2003 to 2006. Ms. Ell's concerts have taken her to Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Barbados, and many parts of the United States and Canada.

A child of two musicians, Ms. Ell began the cello at age four, studying with Louis Potter Jr. in her native Michigan. Among the eminent musicians she worked with as a student are Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, Richard Goode, and Robert Mann. (*see below) Ms. Ell subsequently went on to the Juilliard School in New York as a scholarship student of Aldo Parisot, receiving her Bachelor's Degree in 2000. While in New York, she performed in such prestigious venues as Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Merkin Recital Hall. In addition, she was a member of the Vaux Quartet, often representing the Juilliard School in concerts around the country. The Quartet was also chosen to perform at the school's commencement ceremony, an honor given to only one student group each year. Outside of her soloistic pursuits, Ms. Ell also gave dozens of concerts in hospitals, nursing homes and inner city schools in New York as part of her commitment to community outreach.

Ms. Ell completed her education with Shauna Rolston in Toronto, and with Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her Master's Degree in 2003. She currently resides in Cleveland with her two cats, and plays on a cello made for her in 1992 by David Burgess.

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