Section Principal French Horn Auditions

Audition date:  Monday 26th July, 2010

Applications close: Friday 16th July, 2010

Recordings Due: Tuesday 20th July, 2010

Location for live audition: Wellington, New Zealand

Only open to NZ citizens, NZ permanent residents and persons with a current NZ work permit and visa

Annual Leave: 6 weeks per annum
Sick Leave: 10 days per annum (accumulate up to 120 days)
Long Service Leave after 20 years service and beyond
Dress and Instrument allowances
Subsidised employer superannuation
Group health insurance scheme 
Professional development opportunities
Health and Safety programme including wellness grant of $150 per annum, subsidised on-site massage and hearing preservation programme, etc

More about working for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

The NZSO is Aotearoa/New Zealand’s only full-time, full-strength, professional symphony orchestra. It has a young, supremely talented music director who is in demand from orchestras all around the world. Its guest conductors and soloists are of the finest calibre. The Orchestra itself achieves high artistic standards that are regularly acknowledged in reviews of its CDs in leading journals worldwide. The Orchestra’s programmes are creative and innovative while nevertheless mining the deep satisfactions of the symphonic repertoire. An NZSO concert is a thrilling experience, with great performances supported by skilled and helpful professionals in operations and client services.

We are uncompromising in the artistic demands that we place upon ourselves and idealistic about taking the riches of symphonic music to New Zealanders of all walks of life and socio-economic circumstances. The NZSO gives over 100 concerts per annum in 30 different New Zealand centres, reaching a live audience of 125,000 and countless more through CD recordings and broadcasts on Radio New Zealand Concert. The orchestra maintains a strong education programme. The mantra that shapes our corporate culture is “Quality and Coverage”.

The orchestra’s artistic mission is promoted through cutting-edge marketing that helps ensure an average audience capacity of 80% is achieved. Since box office revenue is matched by corporate sponsorship, the NZSO is committed to building strong relationships in the business world.

Our full calendar of symphonic activity requires shrewd and expert financial management. As a not-for-profit company with an annual turnover of $17 million and a zero-based year-end target, our budgets have very fine margins. It is imperative that they are accurate and that the artistic, marketing, and operations teams – and above all the orchestra itself – delivers on them.

The NZSO provides a unique working environment. It is the country’s national orchestra established by Act of Parliament as a Crown Entity. As such, it is monitored by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage it has a civil service dimension. It is governed by a cabinet-appointed board that is able to contribute a wide range of commercial and corporate experience. The NZSO thus incorporates an unusual mix of public service accountability and commercial savvy.

The NZSO offers excellent working conditions for its 90 musicians and nearly 30 management staff. Most of the management staff are based in Wellington in spacious offices adjacent to the Michael Fowler Centre and Wellington Town Hall. We maintain a smaller office in Auckland. The NZSO is committed to best practice in HR matters. We seek to offer all employees – both musicians and management – opportunities for professional development and maintains a strong health and safety programme. We encourage a culture of enjoyment and pride in what the whole NZSO family achieves and do our best to facilitate a healthy work/life balance.