Joshua MacCluer: Retirement from Orchestra Playing (and Career Retrospective)

A few months ago I made the decision to retire from full time orchestra playing and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. While many people in Hong Kong and elsewhere are aware of my decision, this is my first public announcement of this decision. I’ve been playing in orchestras now for 30 years, and this is my …

Principles of Auditions, Part Three: The Big Day

This is the third and final installment of my series on orchestra audition principles, tips, and tricks. Today covers Audition Day. For Part One covering general philosophy click here, and for Part Two on preparation, click here. Finally the big day has finally arrived! After a thorough, relaxed and joyful preparation, we are now ready to …

Principles of Auditions – Part Two: The Preparation Process

IQuality preparation is key to any successful performance. Any good coach will tell you that most of the winning of any sports contest will be in the preparation. For John Wooden, widely considered the greatest basketball coach of all time, the outcome of a competition was largely decided in practice leading up to the game. While …

Principles of Auditions – Part One: General Audition Philosophical Principles

Auditions are a fact of life today in the classical music world. They are almost always required for getting orchestra jobs and into universities and festivals, yet are quite different than regular music playing. Therefore so it is an essential skill for successful classical players to master for a successful career. I did a lot …

The Creative Unconscious and Creativity’s Role in Saving Humanity

This is a reprint from Joshua MacCluer’s blog on Sept 14, 2015. I would like to share some thoughts about creativity and its greater role in the world. When I first started thinking about it I didn’t appreciate what a rich and complex subject creativity is, and how important it really is to all of …

Elevation Solo Album Release and the Myriad Benefits of Recording

Lamma Studios is delighted to announce the release of trumpeter Joshua MacCluer’s album Elevation. What follows was written on Joshua’s website at the time of release. Elevation is the result of almost two years of work and was a tremendous learning experience for me as well a very enjoyable artistic process. The album is now released electronically …