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University horn auditions are over for 2022. I believe Horn Matters readers will find a number of interesting notes and tips in this short series reflecting on this round of auditions at Arizona State.
Overall numbers
The first thing that was eye-opening was that while the undergraduate numbers seen this year were similar to normal, graduate auditions were way up. Way up as in more than double the numbers of any normal to above average year (and WAY up from a year ago). Which is a great problem to have I suppose, but still actually is a problem, as I will have to wait list a number of applicants that I would have normally accepted. I don’t like doing this, but there are only so many slots to fill.
I believe that other horn teachers are seeing the same general numbers. This is clearly a “wave year” for horn auditions. If you were an applicant anywhere, this may be discouraging news, but be aware it’s not you so much as this year was highly unusual.
Live auditions are back!
The best part of this year was live auditions were back. Hearing applicants live with no filter was great, and also, I was glad too those applicants could visit in person. Deciding on a college is a big decision and commitment; seeing the school in person is ideal.
Virtual auditions greatly improved
But also, our virtual audition system worked a lot better than last year. In our case applicants presented a recorded (video) audition representative of their best playing, and we then in the Zoom session do sight reading and I can explore some things from the videos. With the combination of factors available to me I finally have a view of the playing of the online applicant that is very similar to that of the live auditions.
Disclaimer
If you auditioned for me this year … don’t worry! I am referencing in this article series only generally your choices of rep and playing, looking mostly at what shows trends of the times.
Mozart mania!
Mozart first movements are still great solos for auditions, showing off important elements of style and skill. Most of them I heard were played well, with nice easy runs and such. Making music! Some good teaching out there, nobody played Mozart like Kopprasch this year (which has too often been the case).
In past years I made a point of checking if applicants were using transposed parts. I didn’t do that this year, but the basic thing to note is as a grad applicant you really should be using a part with the original notation (in Eb! You should be playing Mozart 2 or 4). I’ll address this topic further later in the series.
The pieces I didn’t hear
To close part I, there were two works I was glad to not hear on this round of grad auditions.
The solo I didn’t hear was Strauss I. It is a fine solo but also the quintessential undergrad audition solo. I really don’t want to hear it on a grad audition. I suspect no horn teacher wants to hear it on a grad audition. While yes, it is not what you play but how you play it, still, playing Strauss I basically just says to me you don’t know any more advanced solos.
The excerpt I didn’t hear was the Tchaik 5 solo. On this my reaction is very much like that of Strauss I. Yes, it is a great excerpt. Wonderful moment in orchestra! But tends to be offered by applicants who know hardly any other excerpts, and also it tends to sound flat and boring. And yes, I know some teachers require this one for their grad auditions (likely for the exact same reason — only the best applicants don’t sound boring on it), but I’m not too interested in hearing it. We can work on it later! I have other excerpts I’d rather hear that show me more about your potential.
Part II will look at some new trends in solos. I heard several new works this year, more soon.
