The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is getting ready to unveil its centennial season. And one of the youngest members, 21-year-old Sean Marron, is excited to be a part of it.
“It was a very fortunate time to join the orchestra,” Marron said. “They’ll announce planned concerts and any big pieces.”
He’s from Ridgewood, New Jersey, and started playing the flute in 5th grade in his school’s instrumental program. “I’m very thankful to all public school music programs,” he said. “They really create the next generation of all classical musicians. It’s very important.”
He got hooked on the flute, he said, and joined the Juilliard pre-college program when he was in High School. He would practice two hours a day, and travel to NYC Saturdays.
“I would have orchestra chamber music lessons and music theory,” he added. “ It was some pretty intense training and that helped me so much.”
Marron chose the Eastman School of Music, he said, because of the professors and its stellar reputation. For the first three years of his degree, he was a duel major, also in math at the University of Rochester. But he had to give that up when he landed a spot on the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. And it wasn’t an easy thing to do. He was the last-man standing in a blind audition of about 50 people.
“It was different from anything I’ve ever experienced before,” Marron said. “It’s a very good system. The reason these auditions are blind is to eliminate any bias by the committee. It started back in the 50s, and immediately more women started getting hired. Some auditions, they’ll even roll out a carpet so you don’t hear the high heels. I was totally happy that I got out of the first round, that was mission accomplished for me. That put me in the position to have as much fun as I could.”
He was at the audition for eight hours. But ultimately, after two super-final rounds, he got the job as Second Flute.
“It’s so wonderful to play with them,” he said. “They sound so good. It’s an honor to be a part of it.”
FingerLakes1.com plans to interview the Maestro next month to talk about the 2023-2024 season.
Rebecca is a veteran multimedia journalist serving as one of our core reporters in the Finger Lakes region. She is responsible for telling stories that matter to every day Upstate New Yorkers. Have a question or lead? Send it to [email protected].