Khora

It isn't just in the audition process that one sometimes has to prove you can fit in right away. Sometimes you get called to sub at the last minute in an orchestra or show, and you may not have had a chance to actually rehearse with them before. You need to be able to adapt immediately, under stress, to match the section. When you make them glad you are there, they call you back!

Those skills are learned by playing with other real people as much as possible, in as many settings as possible. The safest place to learn to adapt is in a practice room with a buddy, or in a lesson with a trusted teacher, or in a pickup/reading chamber group, when there is no imminent performance to stress people out. Give yourself safe places to experiment, with people who will be supportive even if you fall on your face a few times. If someone isn't supportive, find someone else! You'll learn how not to fall on your face, and build up a support group at the same time.

Oh, the things I wish I had known when ......

Fascinated and learning more each day,

Sandy

Principaltrumpet

This may be a bit much to ask, but is anyone willing to make a list or point me in the direction of a list of all of the major excerpts used in auditions. I also am looking for a way to get my hands on them...I am from a town that is not very orchestra friendly and my dream is to play in one. I feel as if my resources are limited but you guys seem to expand them~JR

Manny Laureano

JR,

Here's a start and I know others will add to it:

The Leonore Calls from Beethoven's overtures numbered 2 and 3.

The ballerina's dance from Petrushka by I. Stravinsky

The offstage solo from the Pines of Rome by Respighi

The opening Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition

The opening trumpet call from Mahler's 5th symphony

Ravel's G major Piano Concerto

The 2nd movement solo from Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F

The Good Friday Spell from Parsifal by R. Wagner

Don Juan by R. Strauss


Okay, like I said, that's a start and by no means complete. That's more your teacher's job to give you a list like that. I only listed solos that are playable on the Bb assuming that you haven't gotten a C trumpet quite yet.
In England they play pretty much all of the above on Bb.

If you decide to learn these pieces please get recordings and learn those pieces COMPLETELY as organic works of art, not just the excerpts. Train yourself to be a musician first, trumpeter second. If you don't live presently in a community where there's an orchestra program, these recordings will become your best friends in music for a while. Learn them like your favorite books.

Enjoy the voyage,

ML

Principaltrumpet

Manny Thanks alot, I do have a C along with my Bb, Eb/d, and picc. My teacher is more into solo literature than wanting to work on anything else, but this is where life has me right now. After I finish my Bach, I would like to go somewhere bigger/bette, the later being mor important. P.S. Someone let me know if this isnt the right place to ask these questions.

ecarroll

JR,

Good morning.

This is the perfect place to ask these questions.

Perhaps one of our members can give you the recent lists from Los Angeles, New York, and Washington (I bet somebody here took these auditions) to suppliment the Montreal list? I'm about to get into my car but have an old Chicago list (and perhaps a few more) in my office. I'll dig them out and post them here as well.

Best,
EC

tpter1

Here is the list for the Columbus SYmphony (principal trumpet)
PRINCIPAL TRUMPET AUDITION REPERTOIRE
March 2007
Choice of Solo from the following:
Haydn Concerto in E-flat
Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major
Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E Major
Orchestra repertoire (Trumpet I parts):
Bach Magnificat in D (No. 1 Chor)
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra: Mvt. 5
Bizet Carmen Suite No. 1: Prelude
Gershwin Piano Concerto in F Major: Mvt. II
Mahler Symphony No. 2: Mvt. I
Mahler Symphony No. 5: Mvt. I
Mahler Symphony No. 7: final mvt.
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade and Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Ravel Bolero: 1st C Trumpet (muted solo)
Ravel Concerto for Piano: G Major opening solo
Respighi Pines of Rome: Offstage Solo
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade: Mvt. IV
Shostakovich Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 3: muted solo Mvt. II, #34 and Mvt. IV
R. Strauss Ein Heldenleben (1st E-flat Trumpet)
Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919 ed.): Infernal Dance
Stravinsky Petrouchka: Ballerina Dance
Works not available for purchase from Kalmus will be made available by request through the CSO Library.
Please email David Frost, Principal Librarian, at dfrost@columbussymphony.com

Sight-reading: Candidates should be prepared for sight-reading and to perform from CSO parts if asked.

Additionally, some rep I've seen (I think it was for Albany several years ago):
Mahler Posthorn solo
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4, mvt 1

Syracuse has asked for Miraculous Mandarin a couple times for tpt. 2

I vaguely remember seeing Tomasi Concerto, mvt 1 on a European list.

Shostakovitcvh Symphony no. 5 was on a recent list, but I can't remember which. (It is frequently asked, though).

__________________
-Glenn
"Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting

6pk

We are very lucky to have Manny, Ed and various other people devulging all these fantastic secrets on how to be a success in this intense business! I wish this forum had existed when I first left college....
BTW, one of the things that bugs me the most in listening to auditions, is lack of personnal awareness, this obviously ties in with tempos, rhythm and intonation. It seems many excerpts are played too fast, as a way of trying to make them exciting, and intonation wise, many players seem able to play an excerpt/instrument in tune with itself but that intonation may not necessarily be the same with the tutti Orchestra. Alpine Symphony, for example, if the top concert D is not at least bright or even sharp, it will sound flat in context. So in an audition what do you do? Play what sounds good, or play what you do in context, the two should be the same, but this isn't always the case. Personally I think flexibility and awareness is the key, if you can somehow convey this in your audition, you stand a chance.

I may have opened another can of worms here, sorry Ed. Happy new Year to you!

Manny Laureano

Simply stated, it should be in tune enough to play along with a well-tuned piano.

ML

Shermock

Y'know, for a jazz/commercial guy like me who does a smattering of classical playing this thread is a marvelous, "How about learning all this?"

I have only recently been delving into the symphonic repertiore and these audition lists are very helpful!

Good stuff. Thanks everyone for such great info!

Shermock

tromj

Khora's ability to describe the plot of the Donizetti opera, (Pasquale, right?) reminds me of something Doug Hedwig discussed with us a long time ago. He was talking about the trumpet calls at the beginning of Otello, and said, if you don't know what is going on onstage, how are you going to know how to play those parts.
In other words, we have to know everything we can about the pieces we may only have to play a part of.
And thats doubly true for opera excerpts!

__________________
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