KMFA Story Seeker Natalie Zeldin explores the behind-the-scene world of classical music to discover the stories that don't always make it into the spotlight, and may not get a standing ovation. This is the third article in her series. For more, see her most recent story "Orchestral Auditions, The Mother of All Games of Musical Chairs."

An orchestra is like a graceful duck floating in the pond. The smooth movements of the duck are like the harmonies we hear; they seem effortless, but beneath the water, the animal’s feet kick vigorously to keep it humming along. 

The “duck’s feet” of an orchestra consist of a whole slew of people--and they don’t get nearly enough credit for their critical work towards a successful concert. So next time you clap when a performer gets on stage, you are also clapping for all of these people that you will now know exist!

1.The Music Librarian

You are much more likely to see an orchestra play without a conductor than without a music librarian--they are that important. Not only do orchestral librarians distribute the appropriate sheet music to all of the members of the orchestra, but they also serve as quality control for the music. If there’s a difficult page turn, they will “scrapbook” the music to make it more accommodating. If the orchestra is planning extra repeats or cuts, the librarians will mark these changes to each musician’s part. And because there are often inconsistencies between different published editions, the librarians also edit the bowings, rehearsal letters, tempos, dynamics, and articulations between the different parts.

Alison Mrowka, Music Librarian for the Austin Symphony 

2. Page Turner

The role of the page turner is a vestige of an older time. In an age of hands-free solutions, we still truly need a person to sit next to the pianist and turn the pages. (Yes, there are apps for this now, but they are not yet widely adopted.) The page turner follows the pianist’s score. Then, on the last line per page, he stands up and waits for the head nod cue from the pianist to turn. It is somewhat of a thankless job because you only truly get noticed if you messed up, and it’s pretty easy to mess up: by accidentally turning two pages at once, not seeing a repeat to go back to a previous page, and mistaking a vigorous expressive movement with a nod to turn and turning prematurely.

3.  Instrument Repairmen

Instruments, like cars, are complicated machines that need their periodic tune-ups--quite literally. Without this regular instrument maintenance, concerts would stall on the highway. Before a performance, a piano gets a visit from a piano tuner, who relies on a fine ear as well as tuning instrumentation to make subtle adjustments to instrument’s strings. Woodwind repairmen conduct regular COAs (Clean, Oil, Adjust); the delicate fish-skin-lined pads underneath the keys are replaced if needed, the gunk behind the springs are cleaned out. And while string players periodically need adjustments to their bridges and soundboard, they also need to regularly bring their bows to their luthier (a string instrument craftsman) to get them re-haired.

Too late for the tuner on this one.

There are many other roles that are critical to a successful concert. Here are a few more:

- Acoustical and architectural engineers who optimize the sound in performances halls.

- Doctors/physical therapists/speech language pathologists who treat repetitive stress/overuse injuries such as carpal tunnel and vocal nodules.

- Director of operations for an orchestra who choreographs the set-up of chairs, sound shields, stands, and risers for each concerts.

- Audio engineers who manage the microphones and speakers at concerts.

- Orchestra personnel manager who makes sure that the orchestra hired a cowbell player if the piece demands it.

- Instrument makers, who are always finding ways to innovate. (Some wind instruments are much more in tune now than they were in the 50’s, for example!)