Learning From Behind the Screen: My Audition Observations

I had the great privilege of listening to over 70 flutists audition for the Indianapolis Symphony last week. We heard lots of beautiful playing throughout each round of the the three day audition. It is always a humbling experience getting to sit behind the screen and listen to individuals put their lives’ work in a couple minutes of music. I couldn’t help myself but to feel proud of each and every one of them. Having participated in many auditions myself, I know how vulnerable, lonely, disconcerting, stressful, and demoralizing it can be. To the players who showed up and played: I commend you sincerely. It is one of the most difficult ways to present your art, and you should be proud. You showed up, and that counts for a lot.

I wanted to share some thoughts about what I found myself listening for, and what kinds of things it helped to inform me of in the future. This is my third audition committee at the ISO and my second woodwind committee, and I think by now I have discerned what things are important to me as a listener and what things aren’t. I think I can safely break it down into several categories, each of their own significance. For reference, the screen was up throughout all rounds including the finals and super-finals, which is how I prefer it and how it should be, in my opinion.

First off, things I DON’T care about:

Sound

This is something that really, really surprised me given how often I am obsessing about my sound and whether X orchestra I am auditioning for will like my sound. What I’ve learned is that there are a wide range of acceptable sounds. Obviously, I am more discerning of sound in terms of clarinet, but for other woodwinds, as long as it falls in the acceptable spectrum, it’s all good with me. It was particularly shocking to me in the violin committee I sat on. Both finalists (both of whom we ended up hiring) had completely different sound concepts. Same thing with the recent flute committee. Each one of the finalists had a totally different concept, but as long as it was aesthetically pleasing and convincing, it wasn’t more important than other aspects of their playing

Mistakes

The old adage of “You need to play a note perfect audition in order to win” could not be further from the truth. Every single player makes mistakes, not only in the audition, but at work. Now, if it becomes a pattern where a player is consistently fumbling, that is potentially concerning. But I will NEVER NOT vote for someone because they made a few mistakes. It’s just not important in the grand scheme of the job

Warming Up

It really doesn’t matter if you play warm up notes or not. It didn’t affect my decision on anybody of whether I liked their playing. I personally choose to not play warm up notes, but that is a personal preference.

Other Random Things People Think About But Don’t Actually Matter

Audition time - Doesn’t matter if you are first or last, at the beginning of the day or the end

Who else is in your group - There isn’t a quota for each group. Each individual will be listened to and adjudicated with equal value. I’ve been in a group of five where three advanced, and a group of eight where nobody advanced

Time between excerpts - Don’t rush but don’t take forever, pretty simple

Thinking that one thing would have been the difference - Often times it’s a yes or a no from me, pretty clearly, from the first 10-20 seconds of playing. It seems shallow, but I’m always shocked how quickly decisions are made in my head. I don’t stop listening after that time, but I would say 99% of the time the rest of the round confirms my initial suspicions on a player. I look for general concepts WAY more than specifics

Things I DO care about and listen for acutely:

Intonation

This is perhaps the easiest thing to call people on. It doesn’t really matter if you play at 440 or 442, but it does matter if you play in tune with yourself. For the flute audition, this passage in Leonore no. 3 was incredibly telling in terms of a candidate’s ability to play the same note both in FFF and P whilst not compromising pitch:

Pitch accuracy not only in extreme dynamics, but also when notes are articulated, vibrated, and released are very important. If you can play in tune with yourself in all dynamics, intervals, ranges, and articulations, 80% of the battle is won.

Rhythm

Slight rushing and dragging will likely happen during an audition. It’s part of the nerves and the process itself. When I mention rhythm, I’m more concerned about rhythmic accuracy. Are your triplets three even notes? Are your dotted eighth sixteenths accurate? Do you consistently short rests (half note or less)? Are you late off of ties? All of these things are very important to be aware of

General Musical Sense

Someone who plays a compelling opening phrase of a Mozart concerto is 90% likely to get my vote to move out of the preliminary round. Is their direction and phrasing clear? Do they not only know what their musical idea is, but is it accurately communicated through their playing? Downbeat heavy playing, swelling on long notes, and lack of direction is very common, and it’s not so much that people don’t know how to play musically, it’s that they don’t know how to communicate it to the listener in a large acoustical setting. Record as often as possible in different large rooms, concert halls, chapels, basements, wherever you can get in leading up to the audition. It will be wildly informative as to whether your ideas are being communicated as you perceive them to be.

Rhythmic Clarity

This goes along the same lines as my previous point. My general rule of thumb: when in doubt, play it slower. It’s not at all impressive to me when someone plays something as fast as possible, even if it is the marked tempo. It sounds muddy, rushed, and completely swallowed in a large acoustic. What IS impressive to me, is if I can hear every single note in a passage like this in Daphnis and Chloe with clarity and rhythmic precision.

Not to beat a dead horse, but playing and recording in large spaces will be very informative.

Articulation

Is the articulation clean and clear in all registers, dynamics, and styles? Can I hear the difference between staccato, accent, tenuto, etc. ? Is there a clear start and end to each note?

Dynamics, Style, and Musical Knowledge

Are you able to create both a beautiful, whispering ppp, and a commanding FF when demanded by the music? Can you play the styles of Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, Ravel, and Stravinsky in an identifying way? Does your musical interpretation communicate knowledge of the orchestral score in terms of when you need to hold back and when you need to come forward? These are all things that start to separate the pack as you get down to fewer and fewer players.

I hope that those reading this article may have garnered some information about what it is like to sit behind a screen. I know that It’s an incredibly informative experience every time I have the honor of serving on a committee. I wanted to write these thoughts down more for my personal reference than anything, but I hope that it can be helpful to those currently on the audition circuit or those perhaps thinking about trying for their first orchestral job.

Congratulations again to Alistair Howlett for being named the winner (pending trial) of our second flute audition, and Dianne Seo for being named the runner-up. Both, along with many, many others, played very beautifully throughout. It was inspiring to hear, and did nothing but motivate me to get back to work on my own craft.

Thanks for reading,

Sam