Hi all- I’m a reporter for Bloomberg News. Hoping to learn more about Leon Botstein and the orchestras he heads specifically Bard undergrad, TŌN and ASO. If anyone would like to share their experiences or speak with me on this, things you have heard, or another matter please message here or mdavis627@bloomberg.net. Any requests for anonymity will be honored. Happy to share credentials as well. Thank you so much!
I'm in the process of taking as many auditions as I can afford, but time is limited due to work and life. I'm already exhausted when I start practicing, but getting any work done after hours 4-5 is futile.
Working life means I need practical strategies to keep total collapse at bay, but to not take time off altogether. Sleep hacks, diet routines, time management strategies are welcome.
What do people think about auditions being held during a major storm? This past weekend, the NSO went ahead with their viola audition with no alternative options. I made the trip, but I left immediately after my time and even canceled my hotel for the night because the potential impact of the storm was increasing. I was lucky enough to have one of the earlier Saturday time slots, but it still felt like the decision to hold the audition as scheduled made it harder for people to attend. I felt like I couldn’t cancel because of the travel plans I’d already committed to. I understand that these auditions draw a huge number of players and that it’s exhausting for the panel, but it still seems intentional, or at least inconsiderate, to proceed knowing that many people might not be able to get there or return home safely. For additional context-I…
I’m sure they would love to accommodate everyone but the reality is there is very little they can do. It’s always tough to schedule auditions, you need the hall time and a short gap in fhe orchestra calendar to hold it, plus it has to be a Music Director week. Plus many groups have a contract clause that says they have to audition every year for any vacancies, so it’s not like they can just push it back to summer when the weather is nicer.
Anytime I took an audition in winter, I just accepted that the weather might be a huge problem. I’ve changed flights, driven in snowstorms, added nights to a hotel, whatever is necessary to still have the opportunity to win a job.
San Francisco Symphony just sent out a message saying that their committee has opted to do a recorded preliminary round in February, with semis and finals in April for their Section Viola audition. As far as I'm aware, this is a novel approach to have a time-limited recording period, and one that I hope other organizations emulate to respect the time and financial constraints of applicants.
Below is from their message to applicants:
Here is how the Recording-Only Preliminary Round will function:
Candidates will receive the preliminary round repertoire list at 12pm (Noon) PST on Tuesday, February 24.
Candidates will have until 12pm (Noon) PST on Thursday, February 26 to submit their recording.
The recordings must be done in one take and in the order of the list with no editing.
I like the recorded prelim a lot, actually. And audio only reduces the barrier to entry even further in my opinion, since requiring video either necessitates the candidate to have either a. a good combination video/audio device, or b. knowledge and software required to combine a video source with an external audio source. With audio only, an entry level field recorder and the sanctuary of a local church or high school auditorium will yield impressive results. I've advanced multiple times in recorded prelim submissions using this exact setup.
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Typically the only candidates who can “afford” to take every audition are graduate students, recent grads turned freelancers, training orchestra fellows, etc. These are people who have no family obligations, no day job - they are basically full-time auditioners, and it’s no accident that they tend to win most of the jobs available. Everyone struggles with time and energy management, but it sounds like you are not in this boat if your “work” is such a major time and energy drain on you. If you are already exhausted when you start practicing, you are probably engraining bad habits in your technique and not improving steadily because your attention and focus are so sapped.
If you can’t afford to drastically cut back on any work and other obligations that are not vitally necessary to your survival, then you probably cannot (and should not) try to take every audition. You should be much more selective, prepare for only one at a time, and use a much more elongated preparation period (maybe 4 months instead of 2). This means you might only take a max of 3 or 4 auditions in a year. This means fewer opportunities to win one, but it should also mean you will be fresher and better prepared for the ones you do take. All the folks I know who won big jobs later in life managed to navigate this.
You can either be a full-time auditioner, working the bare minimum to pay bills and practicing the rest of the day, or you can be a worker who is a part-time auditioner. Success is possible in either scenario, but you can’t be both.