| Mikey B-
Some really fine questions!
It was amazing to play in front of these guys at some of the finest music schools in America (or the world). My first one was with Gekker, and you know better than anyone that he has a way of relaxing the situation! He just wants you to make the best music possible. The Juilliard audition was the most stressful for me, but that's because I made it that way for myself by building up this huge mountain in front of myself. Playing in front of Gould made me really nervous the first time. Tried to mess with my head which worked that time, but not the second. Mannes was a differnet story. Penzarella and Smith were great to play for. The best audition by far! MSM was a terrible little room! Blah!
Adrenaline really played into my Mannes audition since it went so well. I'm really lucky that I've never had a problem with nerves. But yeah, the feeling of the blood running through your veins and a hightened sense of your surrounds is awesome. It's like I was so aware of everything that I wasn't at all and got totally lost in the music. Doesn't make any sense I know. Those are the times that we are at our best though. When the room becomes hazy and you lose yourself in every note you play. When the notes lose their individual meaning and become a line or a phrase. That's music!
I played a bunch of mock auditions for my teacher, friends, family, and imaginary judges. I think using your imagination is important in practice. Close your eyes, picture Gould, Mase, and Cobb sitting there and play your program down cold. No second chances. If you can't do that when you're alone, there's no chance of doing it when their actually there staring at you. It really builds confidence!
When my teacher at Peabody was taking auditions for orchestras, he would always pack his tails and whites so that WHEN he won the job he could play that night if they needed him. Now obviously that doesn't happen usually, but the confidence that knowing his tails were waiting for him gave him was enough to win a spot in a major orchestra. Come up with a trick that works for you!
Mike--can you talk about your endevours with arranging vocalises and other self motivation that you told me about? This stuff is what the cats winning auditions are made of! Jon Nelson told us in a masterclass that trumpeters who practice will play well, but trumpeters that are in the library studying scores and recordings all the time are the ones that will really succeed. Add to that arranging.
Ok, enough ranting for this post! Haha! |