Carol Jantsch isn’t a typical college senior.
- Jessica Boullion
- Music senior Carol Jantsch holds her tuba Wednesday at the music school. Jantsch will rake in $100,000 as the principal tuba player in the Philadelphia Orchestra. (EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN/Daily)
On Feb. 22, while her peers were preparing to embark on spring break trips and finishing mid-terms, the School of Music student built on a remarkable musical career at the University with an achievement most musicians never realize in a lifetime. After completing three rounds of auditions for the position of principal tuba with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Jantsch aced the final round, winning the spot with one of the country’s top 10 major orchestras.
“(Winning) it was totally awesome, basically,” Jantsch said. “It’s something you’ve been daydreaming about for along time and it actually comes true.”
Along with securing a job with prestige most performers her age can only dream about – not to mention a salary topping $100,000 a year – the Ohio native has also earned the distinction of being the first female principal tuba player ever in a major orchestra, all before her 21st birthday.
Jantsch’s status as the first female principal orchestral tuba is worth noting, but her age is even more remarkable.
“(Jantsch’s accomplishment is) really positive in a lot of ways,” said Music Prof. Fritz Kaenzig, Jantsch’s studio instructor. “For young people, for young musicians, it should be a really exciting, hopeful sign that if you play well enough and an audition committee is open enough, there’s the possibility that you could land something like a position in the Philadelphia Orchestra right out of college.”
And if her resum