JONATHAN SPITZ:
The musicians who…who play in our group are each individually phenomenal instruments capable of playing a…you know, carrying the ball in a…in a solo recital or…or concerto performance. And we’ve all…we all do that…that kind of work when we’re…when we’re not with Orpheus. Um, so the…the, you know, individual virtuosity level is…is…is, I’m proud to say, very, very high within our group.

So there’s…there is that. But there are virtuoso musicians who aren’t really a good fit for us and, um, basically, it’s really communication skills. It’s being able, if you have a strong point of view about how a piece should be played, you have to be able to persuade your colleagues of your point of view.

And you have to be…perceptive about how that’s working…’cause it’s possible to kind of hammering at an idea if you feel that people aren’t getting it, and uh, usually, in Orpheus, that’s counter-productive…as anywhere.

There’s also a great deal of flexibility involved, so that you know, you’re gonna have a situation where your point of view isn’t going to be one that’s gonna carry the day, and being able to…to yield, to be able to play someone else’s interpretation with…as if it’s your own, I think that’s…that’s one of the things we really pride ourselves on…that we’ll…we’ll, you know, disagree …vociferously… [Laughs.] I can say this word.

MARIL MACDONALD:
Maril: [Laughs.] You’ll strongly disagree. [Laughs.]

JONATHAN SPITZ:
Yeah. We will disagree vociferously in rehearsal and…and we all have very passionate ideas about the music and not the same passionate ideas…but once we…the group comes to a consensus and we…we…and we’re…and it’s time to go on stage, what’s really wonderful is the way, …

You know, I’ve experienced this so often myself that we’re…we might be playing an interpretation that I don’t quite a…agree with, but play with so much commitment that by the end of the concert, I…I’ve…I actually reconsidered my disagreement; start to think that maybe, you know, they were right after all.

The qualities of the individuals of the team are so crucial, when we fill a position, a lot of thought and a lot of time goes into it.

These are people who are exceptional musicians who are really good chamber music players – that they’re able to listen……able to contribute in a rehearsal and not dominate. Those are the qualities that we…that we look for.

It’s a real important development for the group going forward. So the…the kind of the, uh, regeneration of the team is…is absolutely one of the foremost things, uh, in our minds in terms of, uh, keeping it healthy, keeping it fresh… and really maintaining the quality of what we do.