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.
I was in an audition for a full-time position in a well known ensemble where we did not draw numbers in any round, and the audition order remained the same for advancing candidates in the semifinals, finals and super-finals. Is this a normal thing that happens or does it go against some rule (written or implied)? Should drawing numbers be something that is mandatory in auditions to keep things, at least on the surface, random and more unbiased?
The only candidate pre-advanced to finals was a frequent sub and went first, and that was the candidate who ended up winning. I don't want this to sound like sour grapes or that I believe it was fixed. The winning candidate is a fine player and could have won had candidates drawn numbers for each round.
However I've taken over a dozen auditions at this point and this is the only one…
It probably doesn’t go against any written rule. In my experience, the practice of number drawing is facilitated by whoever is proctoring the audition, and it’s down to that person to do it in an unbiased way, or not. I would say having candidates maintain the same order from round to round, and then plugging in a preadvanced candidate as number 1 in the finals is decidedly NOT the fairest way to do it.
I would recommend that any round that includes preadvanced candidates in it should have a completely new numbers drawn. I’ve taken some auditions that use numbers for prelims and then letters for semis, so as not to confuse the committee and inadvertently favor a player because they are the same number as a candidate who advanced from prelims. All final rounds I’ve ever played, screened or unscreened, have began with all the candidates drawing numbers out of a hat or a bag. This is the most transparent way - having proctors predetermine the numbers is just an invitation for doubts about fairness and favoritism. I would also recommend that phones be taken, either from the candidates or the committee members (or both), before the numbers are drawn for a screened round.
I do think it’s acceptable for the proctor to determine numbers for prelims, based on the order that candidates arrive. Most ensembles assign you to a certain hour, and when you check in they tell you which number you are. I don’t think it’s a good idea to assign prelim numbers before check in, because of A) possible discrepancies in warmup time and more importantly B) it’s just too easy for candidates to share their numbers with members of the committee in advance, if they have a relationship.
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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.