Posted by Rick Denney on September 12, 2003 at 12:21:39:
In Reply to: auditions posted by david on September 10, 2003 at 18:33:44:
1. Have a musical story to tell.
2. Do what it takes so that you have the technique to tell that story. Don't do anything that gets in the way of the story.
I'm coming to appreciate that these two steps work in cooperation with each other.
Someone mentioned taste. Taste doesn't matter if you miss notes or have fuzzy attacks.
You want the audition committee to have a clear, compelling example of your musicianship, not your technical ability. If they don't like your musical sensibilities, they may select someone else, but that's their perogative and you have no control over it. On the other hand, most people who audition don't reveal their musicianship because of technical weaknesses (or because they have insufficient musicality).
It seems to me that if you have to ask about how loud it should be or what instrument to use, then you haven't fully explored your musical objectives. Work on that first.
I have auditioned only rarely, and in situations where nothing really important was at stake, but I can base this advice on my extensive experience writing proposals and interviewing for engineering projects. In that context, we first make sure we have a unique and compelling story, and then we make sure our presentation supports that story at every opportunity and does nothing to detract (or distract) from it.
I once took an audition on tuba where I attempted something that was beyond my technical ability. I learned from that bad experience. Now, I would rather play the Air from Air and Bourree beautifully, if allowed by the audition rules, than, say, the first movement from the Vaughan Williams weakly (and, believe me, with me it would be beyond weak).
Rick "thinking that an inspiring audition will be more effective than a dazzling one" Denney