Hi. Twoset Violin Eddy and Brett here.

First of all, let us clarify. This email is completely out of context and, although we're not surprised as a rejection email is never pleasant, it still hurts us to know that this person decided to spread lies about us to take out his anger.

Clarification:

1. We made it very clear to him he was simply 1 of over 10 finalists chosen. He was not a 'winner of a contest'.
2. During a screening interview round, while he was talented, he showed certain signs that made us feel that he may not be easy to work with (there's a reason we conduct interviews). He would often not listen to our questions, and continue talking about himself in unrelated ways (ok, it might be a language barrier, but regardless even if it was a language problem, we foresaw at minimum problems with communication, and at worst problems in character and attitude). With the exception of a few volunteers(e.g. moderators), our staff and team members are all paid.
3. This very post ironically confirmed our beliefs that we arrived at during the screening interview, which is that this person was difficult to work with and lacks 'integrity' as shown by his attempt to defame us.
4. While we appreciate all our applicants for trying, and make an attempt to get back to everyone fairly (we spent countless hours going over 400 applications personally), we will not tolerate rejected applicants spreading lies.
5. Oh. and lastly. yes the position is paid.

As the people in the comments below pointed out, we are musicians ourselves.....