Re: Rotary vs Pistons in Germany(and Europe)


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Posted by Idee on January 19, 2003 at 20:42:25:

In Reply to: Rotary vs Pistons in Germany(and Europe) posted by Stefan Antwarg on January 19, 2003 at 13:57:01:

It would be advisable to seek guidance from players and teachers currently working in Europe. If you take a look at the some of the brass vacancy ads at Das Orchester or musicalchairs.eu, you'll see that for trumpet, the required solo is the Haydn concerto on the Deutsche B-trompete (rotary Bb trumpet), and that some trombone listings state that "American trombone is possible for the audition" (Leipzig Gewandhaus ad). The fact that it's even mentioned shows that instrument type matters. And if it matters for trumpet and trombone, you can bet it matters on tuba. With regard to the Leipzig trombone ad, they surely have a reason for specifically making "American trombone" allowance.

European auditions are not necessarily played behind a screen. In many cases, the first "round" will be a performance of the specified concerto, with accompaniment, w/o a screen. The committee will see what instrument(s) you're playing the entire time. If you absolutely blow them away, it will matter less what type of instrument and/or valve system you play. Even if you prefer pistons, can you play equally well on rotors?

"Tradition" may or may not win out over ability. Do you want to have any factor working against you?


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