Re: Auditions: Are They Real?


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Posted by John Cradler on January 01, 2002 at 19:00:03:

In Reply to: Auditions: Are They Real? posted by David on January 01, 2002 at 13:49:38:


Basic musicianship is the foundation for being successful at auditions, after that it gets a bit more difficult to define, from a committee member's perspective. Many times, even luck can come into play, unfair as that may seem.
I think many auditions need to be approached as a two or three(maybe more) stage process. In the preliminary round, commitees are looking for people with mastery of the basics; tone,time(unbelievably important , more than many players think), pitch, dynamics, musicality and knowledge of the literature.Players demonstrating command of those things stand a very good chance of advancing. (On the subject of sound/tone; I think most players are not eliminated because of the tone they produce, it is usually something like lousy time or bad intonation that "gets the plug pulled" on a candidate. "They didn't like my sound." or "My sound didn't fit their section" are statements that should be reserved for finalists, as, generally, that is when those determinations are made.)Players demonstrating command of those things stand a very good chance of advancing.
In subsequent rounds, committees are trying to determine which player is the one that will best fit the job. This was not the intent of the first round, that was for finding possible candidates.
Once in the final rounds, committees really push the players in order to discover more about them as musicians, and, if interviews are involved, people. Somebody who is trying to play as someone they aren't will quickly be found out. My advice would be to just keep doing what you did in the prelims and be yourself. If your foundations are solid, you can focus on the task at hand and present youself in the best light.
Please note this post is based solely on my experiences behind the screen and, therefore, should be taken at face value only. Auditions are a pain for all involved, but, to my knowledge, nobody has come up with a better method.

Wasn't it the Wizard of Oz that said,"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"?

John Cradler



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