The Ultimate Guide for Ethical Pit Orchestra Hiring for Musicals
How to Build More Ethical and High-Quality Pit Orchestras
In my time as a pit musician, I have seen far too many extremely capable players simply put into the wrong situation due to a lack of specific genre fluency. Classical players who struggle to achieve the correct swing feel. Jazz players thrown into a reduced-size symphony orchestra and lacking mastery of classical phrasing. Woodwind doublers who have never touched a traditional Irish instrument suddenly having to play an exposed tin whistle part.
In an art form that relies heavily on auditions, callbacks, and deep study of an individual’s credentials and specific skills for actors, why wouldn’t we extend the same scrutiny to the other performers in the company?
Here I have lined out a system in which, utilizing the contractor’s musical expertise, theatre companies can ensure a higher quality of artistic excellence and genre fluency in the pit. This system provides more transparency and equity to an otherwise dated system.
Most importantly, this process naturally widens the circle, giving opportunities to musicians from historically excluded backgrounds, making the pit a place where diversity, equity, and inclusion are not afterthoughts, but part of the artistic vision from the start.
These situations aren’t just awkward for the fellow musicians and cast, they compromise the entire production. And they are completely avoidable with the system I’m about to make public for the entire theatre world.
The Problem
In my previous piece Casting the Pit, I laid out in explicit detail how pit hiring in theatre is an insular process driven more by personal relationships than by artistic fit. This is especially true in the “first call” list culture, where one contractor holds all the power and hires the same small circle of players for every show.
The problem with this approach:
Missed opportunities to hire players with the exact genre or skill experience the score demands.
Reduced artistic freshness, as the same players cycle through production after production without new perspectives.
Limited access for early-career and underrepresented musicians, who often never get a foot in the door.
Reduced diversity to reach the goals of the majority of theatre companies to improve access for historically marginalized groups.
Conflicts of interest and nepotism particularly if the contractor hires themselves.
In the current system, pit orchestras can sound good overall , but with the model I’m proposing, we prioritize the best quality fit for each show. Not necessarily because one player is “better” than another overall, but because they are better suited to the specific demands of that production.
Real-World Examples
The systemic failure of the old methods of contracting pit musicians has a wealth of examples from the real world, here are a few:
A Veteran Jazz Bassist Out of Their Depth
A master of jazz and contemporary styles, but when faced with exposed arco bass lines, they couldn’t play them in tune. They were hired over a long list of bassists equally comfortable in classical and jazz settings.
The Contractor Who Always Hires Themselves
This contractor plays in every single musical at their theatre company. One production required masterful piano playing. Despite not primarily being a pianist, they hired themselves as the piano cover, rather than hiring a qualified pianist.
The Hobbyist Cellist Company Manager
For every show in the season that had a cello part, a member of the company in a non performance capacity, a hobbyist cellist, took the seat. The contractor obliged, displacing professional cellists with years of training and experience.
When Style Is Foreign Territory
An entire pit of classical players was hired for a score full of syncopated, groove-based writing. They couldn’t lock in the feel. The creative team was baffled as to why the music didn’t “sound right,” and hours of extra rehearsal time were burned just to get it passable. This was the direct result of a contractor who only hired orchestral players, regardless of their ability to handle contemporary styles.
Why This Matters for Theatres
Not only does improper pit casting potentially negatively affect the audience's experience, it can have wider repercussions for the theatre, its reputation, and ultimately, its bottom line.
What’s at stake:
Artistic integrity — The pit is part of the storytelling. Each musician is a performer, and their unique voice is important to the show.
Audience experience — Improper hires weaken the emotional impact of the show. The subtleties of mastering different genres vary greatly from musician to musician. You wouldn’t hire a contralto pop singer to play Cunegonde in Candide — just as you wouldn’t hire a jazz sax player to play the piccolo part in Carousel.
Equity & access — Widening the circle naturally increases diversity in the pit orchestra, creating a transparent and honest system that draws in talent from historically marginalized backgrounds. This provides mutual benefits in appealing to new audiences, being more appealing to grant organizations like the NEA and MacArthur Foundations, and further aligning with the goals of DEI initiatives.
Efficiency — Better players = less rehearsal stress. If each player is perfectly suited for that specific book, you can save resources on extra rehearsal time.
Two Models for Ethical Pit Hiring
Here i'd like to offer two approaches to ethical pit hiring, each with their own unique advantages and challenges.
The Casting Model (Project-by-Project)
What it is: Each production’s pit is assembled as if you’re casting roles, player selection is based on the exact style, doubling requirements, and demands of each unique production.
How it works:
Transparency – Publicly outline how musicians are considered, with clear submission/contact info on the theatre’s website.
Artistic fit – Choose players with demonstrable skill in the show’s primary style(s).
Rotation & access – Veterans are still valued, but their first-call status isn’t guaranteed if someone else is a stronger fit for that specific show.
Accountability – The contractor checks in during the run to ensure the chosen players are performing at the intended standard.
Conflict of Interest Policy – A contractor should not hire themselves for a production they are contracting. If they wish to perform in a show, they should recuse themselves from contracting that production. Ideally, the contractor would not serve as a musician in any productions, ensuring impartial hiring decisions.
Best for: Theatres with varied programming where style demands change drastically from show to show.
The Resident Musician Model (Long-Term Appointments)
What it is: Each instrument (or doubling category) has designated resident musicians — a transparent list, auditioned/interviewed up front, who become the first calls for their category for a set term (e.g., 2–3 seasons).
How it works:
Initial hiring is done through open auditions/submissions, with input from music directors.
Resident players are clearly listed on the theatre’s website.
Rotation still occurs — if a resident player isn’t a style fit for a particular score, the contractor can bring in a specialist.
Periodic re-auditions or reviews keep standards high and prevent stagnation.
Conflict of Interest Policy – Resident musicians should be hired based on merit and style fit, not personal relationships with the contractor. If the contractor wishes to perform in a show, they must step away from contracting duties for that production to maintain transparency and fairness. If theatres are okay with a contractor being a resident musician then it must be transparent on the website.
Best for: Theatres with steady programming or strong institutional branding that want consistency and community connection, but still want a transparent process.
Key Difference:
The Casting Model is built for maximum flexibility, every show is a clean slate.
The Resident Model provides consistency and a sense of company identity while still allowing for style-specific substitutions.
Which Model Is Right for You?
If your programming spans a wide range of styles and you often bring in guest directors or music directors, the Casting Model offers maximum flexibility.
If your theatre has a clear musical identity, a consistent season of musicals, and values building a long-term “company” of players, the Resident Model may be the better fit.
Implementation Roadmap
Regardless of the approach you choose, the path to implementation is very similar for both. Here are some tips to help integrate an ethical pit musician hiring process into your theatre's business model.
Publish your process — Add a clear explanation of your musician hiring process to your website for full transparency and to expand the talent pool.
Create an open submission form — Let musicians submit CVs, videos, and doubling lists year-round.
Build a musician database — Track style expertise, doubling abilities, and availability. Utilize the materials from the submission form to guide hiring.
Hold open live auditions — For the resident model, hold live auditions, interviews, and extensive review of materials to decide on permanent resident players. In both models, an annual live audition to allow new players to demonstrate their skill to be considered as subs or regular players would also be useful. This can also uncover potential actor-musicians or multi-talented players(e.g., a tap-dancing fiddle player), by having that as an optional part of the application process.
Work with DEI officers and/or anti-racism committees — Ensure a diverse pool of musicians from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Pilot your chosen model — Test the Casting or Resident Model on one production before making a longer-term commitment.
Common Misconceptions
This system is intent on replacing veteran musicians with “hot young newcomers.”
This system is meant to ensure fitness, fairness, and artistic excellence, putting the best player for that score in that chair.
It is not simply a means to replace one clique with another.
This system will be expensive.
It can actually save money by ensuring:
Extra rehearsal time will never be needed.
100% of the shows will be filled by local musicians who may not have been considered before, eliminating housing costs for out of town players.
Resources will not be wasted finding emergency subs as a result of incapable players being let go.
It will be hard to keep track of everyone’s materials.
All materials will be kept in an easily accessible database for quick reference.
The pit is “heard but not seen” and audiences don’t care that much.
While audiences may not consciously focus on the pit, they absolutely notice its impact — groove, tone, and style directly influence the emotional response to a show.
Adopting a new pit hiring model will push established career musicians out.
Veteran musicians remain valuable and will still be hired. They'll be showcased in repertoire that plays to their strengths more effectively than in the past.
In the Resident system, those players can be hired on as resident players and listed on the company website to ensure transparency.
In the Casting system, they will have a major advantage since their experience will be taken into consideration.
It’s risky to hire new people when you can rely on trusted regulars.
The process involves vetting skills through materials, references, and trial opportunities, ensuring readiness without risking quality.
In Short…
The pit isn’t just accompaniment. It’s a character in the show, a collaborator in the storytelling, and the heartbeat of a musical. While the folks on stage provide the wows, the pit causes the goosebumps.
If we care about casting the right actors and hiring the right designers, we should care just as much about who’s in the pit. Ethical, skill-based hiring doesn’t just create fairness, it elevates the art, and with the pit hiring processes outlined above, we can get there.
The next obstacle: how do we deal with producers who want to cut the size of the pit? This has affected me often because I’m a low brass player.
very constructive and helpful