Many times we make long range decisions based on what works at the time. High school students that have a great deal of natural musical talent, study music and perhaps get a job in an orchestra, finding out that the repertory can be very repetitive and the music director or sponsor more interested in keeping the orchestra afloat than giving everybody a killer musical experience.
There is a video of Ed Carroll on the internet (
Background on Ed Carroll - ArtistshouseMusic) where he talks about getting away from the 150th Mahler performance, he was lucky, he had a plan B. Reinhold Friedrich also quit his orchestra job to become a touring soloist and clinician.