Advice from successful orchestra auditions or auditions committee members

[aasavickas]

I am preparing for some auditions. I have an idea of how I will approach it but I am curious how folks who have had successful auditions and/or folks who have sat on auditions committees think about auditions.

The way I see it, there are 4 big things that really matter in, more or less, this order of importance for auditions.

1. Sound
2. Time
3 Intonation
4. Musicality.

Without the first 3, I don't think a person has a chance. At a high level of playing, it is reasonable to expect that the player perform an audition with a good sound, in time, and in tune. And I presume that problems with any of those three areas of playing are cut first.

The last one, musicality, is where I think note perfect auditions are differentiated from each other. The players that do all the fundamentals well but have some sophistication and nuances in their phrasing, articulation, dynamics, etc probably stand out.

As a listener, this is how I separate my favorite players from the merely good professionals. Fundamentals are great, but if you don't really say anything musically, it never quite does it for me. As a listener, I would rather hear a person really go for a musical idea and even chip a note here or there or maybe push the line a bit on dynamics because they are really trying to make some music rather than a note perfect robot who plays right in the box of acceptable playing.

Granted, at an audition, I would not play the same way I would in a performance or even rehearsal. By the unusual nature of the audition process, they are clearly different from real playing and a more conservative approach makes sense if you want to win the gig. It makes sense to play excerpts more or less the way that most folks would play it. But I still want to sneak in a little, subtle but appropriate, musicality into everything I play.

Curious what the folks who have been successful in their auditions have found or folks who have won auditions and have sat on audition committees think.

I read a couple good articles on the issue and am curious what folks have to say.

Thanks

[blast]

There will not be that many people here that have won auditions and sat on panels for professional orchestras, simply because there are few jobs be had and not many trombone players get to sit on panels, so as one such person I am sort of obliged to answer you.
You are basically right on those four qualities on your shopping list.... none can be skipped around. Add to that a clear, honest and well written CV, top level referees and good quality attire when you go to audition.
Listen to what the panel says and what they ask for.... amazing how many do not.
Get lessons from the best players/teachers on your excerpts and get as many of your friends to listen and offer advice.
You HAVE TO be able to play a good 'William Tell"..... that is the one that lets more people down than any.

Chris

[Burgerbob]

I have discussed this with my teacher in the last couple years. His orchestra auditioned for 2nd trombone and found no one the first time. The section talked about it at length at ITF 2016.

No one won that audition because, in his words, no one showed up ready to win. A good portion of the people he heard left out half of the 4 things you mentioned above, and only a few managed to do 3. He was adamant that you need to have solid, solid fundamentals in place before you start thinking about anything beyond the first 3 on your list. It's no good to be in tune, in time, and have great musicality if your sound isn't doing it for the committee.

Don't forget that if you make it to the end, you need to be able to play with the section AND be able to hang out with them.

[elmsandr]

Check out “The Brass Junkies” podcast. Interviews with many folks who have both gone through auditions and been on the committees. As the intended audience is mostly college students, there is a TON of discussion about audition prep in many of the episodes. There are almost 100 out there, with all but a handful being interviews with successful folks in the world of brass. And heck, even the ones that are not are still hosted by Lance LaDuke and Andrew Hitz formerly of the Boston Brass.

Cheers,
Andy

[aasavickas]

That is funny Andy. Doing my research and studying up on auditioning, I found Brass Junkies and it is wonderful. I only found it a few weeks back but I've been catching up on all the old episodes. I even signed up for Patreon to throw the guys a few bucks. It is entertaining and informative.

I can second the pitch to check out Brass Junkies podcast. It is fantastic.

[CalgaryTbone]

Lots of good responses - particularly from Blast. I'll try to not duplicate too much.

The 3 "T's" - Tone, Time & Tuning are really important, and will do more to get an audition committee to want to hear more from you than anything else. They may forgive small slips on any of these, as long as your overall level in each of these areas remains high. Same for accuracy - missed notes aren't a big deal until they become too numerous or always at a big moment. Musicality wins the job - not without strong standards on the above, but rather on top of the 3"T's".

Some ways to show musicality - play phrases, even when loud. Tannhauser and the Ride are melodies - don't play them like a Bordogni, but do play with melodic shape, and try to make your breaths (even the quick ones in the middle of phrases) sound natural. Show style in your articulations - crisper on the lighter excerpts and broader on the Mahler/Strauss, etc. Be careful to not overdo this - just a nice difference. Make sensible dynamic differences - don't let the FF passages get out of control, or the soft sections to get fuzzy.
Also make the dynamics appropriate to the music that you're playing, both for the era, and for the importance of that passage (louder for melodic moments than repeated notes).

If you get to play with the section, listen and adjust quickly for any pitch/time/articulation/note length discrepancies. Play great solid lower octaves (2nd & bass), but don't overplay unisons. On 1st, lead but don't overplay. At any time in an audition, try to follow instructions from the committee to make adjustments in approach - that is a good sign - it means they are interested.

Lastly, no one can tell you exactly what each committee will be listening for - there are different individual musicians making up each committee. Each will have their own pet peeves, and there may not be 100% agreement among them. All of my tips, as well as everyone else's are just some common areas where people often get tripped up.

Good luck!

Jim Scott

[VJOFan]

Lastly, no one can tell you exactly what each committee will be listening for - there are different individual musicians making up each committee. Each will have their own pet peeves, and there may not be 100% agreement among them.

This is so true!

After the only audition that got me a chair in a professional orchestra I learned that the concert master had been so blown away by my sound on the first two notes of the first excerpt (Tannhauser) I played that her mind was made up form that point on.

You just never know...