James Zimmermann

Hey, Megan.

Thanks for having me.

That's right.

So the blind audition was a two-day long process that started on a Monday morning.

They listened to people one after another all day long.

And they keep whittling it down like a sports tryout.

And after the first day, they asked me to come back the second day.

I passed another round the morning of Tuesday, the 16th of September.

They put me into the finals that afternoon.

And after the final round, they declared me the winner.

came to my dressing room and said, we'd love to have you on the payroll in two weeks.

We'll call you tomorrow.

And I guess instead of calling me the next day, they dug into my sordid history and found enough reasons not to hire me.

And Rachel Ford, their CEO, called me and said, thanks, but no thanks.

And we're not going to talk to you about any of this.

So good luck to you.

That's right.

That's what the email says.

It says a number of items have come to our attention regarding your employment in the Nashville Symphony, which there are some stinkers in there, but there's a lot of advocacy that I did on behalf of my Black colleagues and for the process of blind auditions.

So like you said, it's complicated, but people love to zero in on your worst moments in times like this.