I have had to take various auditions in my life, and most of them have been absolutely nerve-wracking and soul gutting... youth orchestra seating, all-state orchestra seating, college/conservatory auditions, concerto competitions, juries, placement auditions... and in my adult life I have chosen to take a very small handful of professional auditions.
In June, I took one audition, which was not only NOT nerve-wracking, but which was actually fun.
A democratic, condutorless chamber orchestra for which I have been invited to sub the full season the last two years was on the hunt for two new permanent violinists. The initial audition list looked daunting, as I had a lot of other things going on in June, including two weeks with the Seattle Symphony and a full-length duo concert with Jared. And on top of that, I was so very, very tired. I wasn't sure I had the banswidth to put it together. The chamber orchestra came back with a committe update; they had decided to make a change for regular subs, and let us enter the fray at the second round. The second round, it turns out, required only the expositions of two string quartets - 2nd violin for the first movement of the Schubert A minor and 1st violin for the first movement of the Haydn "Quinten", two pieces with which I was already quite familiar, and which I love. We were told that at the audition we would play them with other members of the orchestra. I decided to participate, as I knew I could get the music together on very limited practice time, and I generally feel confident as a chamber musician. (I had secret hopes that the other violinist would be Andy, an absolutely fabulous fiddle player with a golden sound who currently holds a titled position in the Seattle Symphony, and who has a chamber music background. It would be such a treat to get to play with him, even for just a few minutes!)
As we approached the audition day, I began to work off the intuitive assumption that the audition would not just be a play-through, but actually a bit of collaborative rehearsal. I was able to prepare with the help of friends. I was able to play the excerpts a couple of times for the other musicians at church. Jared played through them on a few occasions with me on the cello part. And three days before the audition, we were joined by two other friends to rehearse the excerpts as a full quartet.
At the audition time, I was greeted at the check-in desk by familiar faces, and was led up to the group warm up room by the proctor, a familiar and lovely colleague in two different orchestras. Everyone in the group warm up room were folks I already knew and had played with, so it felt more like a community and less like a competition. I felt self-conscious about practicing the excerpts there, however, so I worked on my martele scales, Yost, and Sevcik Op. 3, which are my most well-rounded warm up options. By the time I was moved to the solo warm up room before my turn, I was already comfortable and ready to go, so I did some tone and tempo cueing practice with the pieces we would be playing.
When the proctor/friend came for me, I was in a place to ask about her day and her kids, and she told me - as I had suspected and hoped - that we would be having a 15-minute rehearsal. When we walked into the church sanctuary where the audition was, I saw the golden-toned Andy on the platform with his violin, as well as a very familiar violist and cellist. The audience consisted of a violinist who has been my standpartner on multiple occasions and is a fellow SSO sub with whom I have had many nice conversations, a Seattle Symhony flutist who is part of the heartbeat of the conductorless orchestra (a person who always knows how to rehearse effectively and in ways that builds others up), and my proctor friend.
I was so comfortable among these positive presences, that I was able to greet everyone, get situated, and take off my shoes, as I generally do in that orchestra for rehearsals, as we stand. Barefoot feels more comfortable and grounded. As we rehearsed, I was able to make requests about tempo, articulation, and dynamics, reference things from the editions of the score I was using, plus listen to and use constructive feedback from other members of the quartet and the audience. It was truly collaborative, and I felt right at home and in my element.
As it turned out, they picked seven finalists, including myself, for five violin spots, as they are cleaning up their roster, and the two who aren't selected for permanent spots will be at the top of the sub list, where I already was. There is no way to lose!
For the final round, I will be "on trial" for the May concert set, and I expect to sub with the group at least once or twice before then. I already feel like a contributing member, and regardless of the committee's final decisions, I will be a contributing part of the community.
The competition in classical music can be so high level and so difficult to make it through, and this group and this audition is such a breath of fresh air.
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