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Orchestral Auditions!!!: How much sight reading?


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Athos
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I won my position in 2007. Sight reading was a part of the final round, and included less-obvious repertoire. My good fortune was to have prepared the oddball piece for an audition three years prior, so I was able to do more than get notes and rhythms.

The requirements for an audition are very much in the hands of the committee, particularly of the chair and the music director. In this case, the music director was adamant about sight reading, and that was enough.

I have encountered sight reading on other auditions as well, though my job in St. Louis represents the last audition I took.

For the most part, orchestras don't have a lot of sight reading in their auditions, but there have been notable exceptions.
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Jason Rogers
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:41 am    Post subject: Goes Without Saying..... Reply with quote

NonsenseEliminator wrote:

If the real subject here is about the skill of sight reading, I guess my question is, have you ever met somebody with...

• reliable, consistent fundamentals
• absolute fluency in basic elements (e.g. scales, arpeggios, etc.)
• transposition chops
• a broad knowledge of the standard repertoire
• good ears

...who sucked at sight reading?

The challenges do not stop with the basic repertoire.

I am glad to see that many "Top" orchestra auditions are now requiring solos such as the Tomasi Concerto or the Honegger Intrada instead of the Haydn and Hummel
It is necessary for today's performer to be proficient beyond yesterday's typical audition list. Be able to give a decent first reading of anything by John Adams or Edgard Varese (Ameriques---6 Trumpets)
Many lists do not include Berg's Wozzeck, but you need to raise your sight reading to handle something with that difficult level.
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JoseLindE4
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Former DC bandsman, now college music teacher. I took maybe 10 professional auditions before winning my DC gig. The one I won was the only one that had any sight-reading, and it was honestly nominal and not particularly hard.

Some thoughts:

1. As already mentioned, there is rarely ever “sight-reading” on most auditions, just the expectation that you know the rep beyond playing your excerpts accurately. Sight-reading an excerpt is much easier if you’ve previously worked on it. Even for the band gigs, the sight-reading usually comes from the rep.

2. Instead of explicitly practicing sight-reading, my college trumpet teachers just had me learn the vocabulary of the instrument (scales and arpeggios, Clarke and Arban) and prepare tons of etudes (up to 5 or 6 Charlier-level etudes per week). I never realized that I was learning to sight-read. This was the approach taught by a former top-level studio player whose job was pretty much sight-reading on live national TV. It works. We also didn’t hammer excerpts until we were ready to try to win a job. Learn to play the instrument well and everything is easy.

3. Freelance work is a different story. You may be sight-reading for the next call back. I’ve freelanced in many situations and had no problem with sight-reading using the above etude-based approach. Many of the jazz-oriented players I know focus more on explicit sight-reading practice. It seems to work for them quite well. There’s more than one way to skin the sight-reading cat.

4. For my younger students (middle and high schoolers), my state places a high premium on sight-reading in the all-state audition process. We work on the process so they’re comfortable with it, but still the main sight-reading focus is learning musical vocabulary.

5. Honestly, I’d rather my state move to allow students to practice the excerpt for a few minutes rather than silently think through the music for a minute with the committee waiting. My state’s all-state process seems somewhat divorced from typical professional experiences and more driven by what educators think should be important or perhaps just simple logistics.

6. The truth is that most of your students, even the advanced ones, probably won’t win an audition for a good, full-time gig. They’ll work as freelancers, teach, arrange, and whatever else they pick up. Sight-reading skills will come in handy there, no doubt.

7. In order of audition priority, it should probably be: 1.) learn to play the instrument well (musical vocabulary, in time, in tune, beautiful sound); 2.) learn the rep (know the works, not just the trumpet part of your excerpt); 3.) learn how to handle the audition process, which is stressful and weird.
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Steve A
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 1:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Goes Without Saying..... Reply with quote

Jason Rogers wrote:

Many lists do not include Berg's Wozzeck, but you need to raise your sight reading to handle something with that difficult level.


You keep asserting things along these lines, but the clear consensus of the posters in this thread is that sight reading of any kind being asked in auditions is rare, and that it's most likely to be something else from one of the pieces already on the list (which most real candidates will likely already know before the audition). I think sight reading is a great skill, but if you made a list of reasons why it's important, I think its contribution to your odds of orchestral audition success would be a long way down the list.

Realistically speaking, great tone, time, tuning, and style are the biggest parts of any successful audition, and those are where the focus should be. No one would suggest this is the key to success, but if your students are like most, they probably don't spend much time practicing flutter tonguing, and that actually happens in a lot more orchestral auditions than sight reading. There are probably a lot of niche techniques this is true of. If you're really looking to give honest guidance about how to prepare for orchestra auditions, I think you're barking up the wrong tree suggesting that people need to be able to sight read Wozzeck to get a job.
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Jason Rogers
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:52 am    Post subject: Thanks To All That Have Responded!! Reply with quote

Thanks To All That Have Responded!!

Sincerely!
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trombahonker
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. Rogers, the truth is, every audition should be entirely site reading. The only way to ensure you’re bringing your honest, true musician self to the stage is to read every excerpt for the first time, playing from the heart.

Preparation leading up to the audition should be comprised of long tones, primarily of the Caruso variety, supplemented often with Schilke power exercises.
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LaTrompeta
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never won a job, so take my "advice" with a grain of salt. The way I see it is this: if you are neck-and-neck with another candidate, and it comes down to sight-reading, who is going to win the job? The better sight-reader. Being a pro these days requires an incredibly high level of proficiency.
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BRASSerie
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tpt_Guy wrote:
Some time ago, Jim Wilt (Mr Clean) wrote a post inspired by serving on a committee for what then was a recent audition. I printed it for myself, but I wish I could find a link (it would be great for students to read).

In it, he mentions sight reading:

Quote:
If a list says "sight-reading may be required", a good place to look is the dark corners of the pieces that are already on the list...


To be sure, he meets your standards: He is Associate Principal of the LA Philharmonic, and he teaches at the Colburn School.


Yes, excellent quote. It comes from a post in Nov 2006 when Chris Still won his seat in the orchestra. Here's a link to the thread, with Jim's full comments at the bottom of Page 1. A worthy read for everyone . . .
https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58475
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Jason Rogers
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2023 5:47 pm    Post subject: Great Advice noamiller!!! Reply with quote

A freelancers life is to be called to a 3 hour practice on the day-of the show.....
maybe report @ 9am sight read/practice til 12 noon ...hopefully eat a catered lunch...report for a sound check at 6pm... show starts at 8pm...precision and excellence are the expectation.
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KZO
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:01 am    Post subject: Academic vs Professional Setting Reply with quote

In my experience, sight-reading was a separate requirement of university auditions. But the nature of free-lance auditions/gigs requires an inherent ability to sight-read as needed.
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Jon Kaplan
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2023 2:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Great Advice noamiller!!! Reply with quote

Jason Rogers wrote:
A freelancers life is to be called to a 3 hour practice on the day-of the show.....
maybe report @ 9am sight read/practice til 12 noon ...hopefully eat a catered lunch...report for a sound check at 6pm... show starts at 8pm...precision and excellence are the expectation.


I will point out that your description has much more to do with freelancing than orchestra auditions. Perhaps you meant to respond to a different sight-reading thread?
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