Re: Band vs. Orchestra auditions


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Jay Bertolet on February 18, 2003 at 22:48:04:

In Reply to: Band vs. Orchestra auditions posted by Kenneth Sloan on February 18, 2003 at 14:59:31:

I wasn't at the SERTEC (very sorry to miss it, I was busy playing Barber's Second Essay every night since last Saturday) but I can share my experience with the last ITEC's mock tuba orchestral audition. I was responsible for judging the preliminary tapes that were submitted for the competition. Off the top of my head, I think there were something like 25 or so applicants. I felt the crop that eventually played at the conference (those who were passed into the second round) were really pretty good. That said, I think it might not be an adequate number of participants (only 6 at SERTEC as you said) to accurately discern the relative competence of preparation. It might be that the 6 players you heard might all be aspiring bandsmen and not as interested in an orchestral career.

Someone else made a great point in this thread. Those band excerpts that are usually found on the military auditions aren't standard band fare. Some are (Lincolnshire Posy, Holst Suites, some Sousa marches) but most (Fingle's Cave, Oberon, etc.) are not. Further, was there sightreading incorporated in this audition? In my opinion, this is the hardest part of the typical military band audition. "The Book" that is used at these auditions is the stuff of legends. Sightreading generally isn't even a consideration at an orchestral audition because the guys that get to the end are almost never "sightreading" anything that they haven't played already.

You make a great point about the experience of playing the piece in an ensemble. But today, with the huge number of available recordings of just about any piece that would appear on any orchestral audition, it is only the fault of the player who goes in not knowing intimately the pieces they perform. I have no explanation for that aspect of what you heard. I had an interesting conversation recently with another tuba professional and he was lamenting the trend he was seeing in the newer players. The trend he was seeing is that the next generation of players are technical wizards, doing things with the horn that were unheard of previously. But also, such players tended not to have even the basic clues about how to play a phrase, how to be creative with the music. That could also explain some of what you heard but, frankly, I hope that has nothing at all to do with it.

The bottom line is that I have no idea why you heard what you did other than this was the representative level of the participants. With such a small number, anything could happen trendwise. I didn't get a chance to hear the ITEC mock band auditions so I can't really compare those folks to the orchestral auditions. All I can tell you is that the orchestral bunch was pretty respectable and I fully expect to hear great things from the lot of them. Already, Jess Lightner won one of the two spots in the Air Force Ceremonial Brass so some of that is already coming to fruition. It should be interesting to see what the rest of them accomplish.

My opinion for what it's worth...


Follow Ups: