Archived under: Auditions, Playing in orchestra | American orchestras, Orchestra 101
The Audience at Your Audition, Round by Round
Several students are taking auditions now in the studio. Part of playing an audition well is knowing who you are playing for. For an entrance audition for a school the audience is the horn teacher. For an orchestral job, eventually you are playing for the conductor.
One of the things I keep on my desk is a copy of the Master Agreement from when I was in the Nashville Symphony. From it I present two quotes on the rules covering auditions, language I am certain is mirrored in many other professional orchestra contracts in the USA. First,
Preliminary auditions shall be in control of the Audition Committee exclusively who shall be charged with the responsibility of determining which candidates to pass along to the finals. Semi-finals may be held and shall be considered part of the preliminary process.
So the audition committee assembled for the audition is the audience for the first and second rounds. What about the finals?
Final auditions shall be in control of the Music Director exclusively with the Audition Committee attending in an advisory role.
In other words, ultimately you are gearing your playing to please the conductor, something to keep in mind as you prepare excerpts.
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