Suggestions For Orchestra Auditioning?!
Question: b flat trumpet w/ piano accompianment. Want to show range, pitch, octaves, triple tonguing, speed changes, soft/loud. Want to show my 50 years experience at playing trumpet -- plus, I really want in this orchestra! What selections are recommended? Thank you!
Answers: b flat trumpet w/ piano accompianment. Want to show range, pitch, octaves, triple tonguing, speed changes, soft/loud. Want to show my 50 years experience at playing trumpet -- plus, I really want in this orchestra! What selections are recommended? Thank you!
If you have been playing the trumpet for 50 years, you will already know the standard repertoire, of course. For an orchestral audition, choose two contrasting pieces that really suit your playing and with which you are truly comfortable. It's always better to play a simpler piece well than attempt a flashy piece and mess it up in the heat of the moment. Remember that as well as the purely technical and musical issues you will have have to be thinking about, you will also be suffering nerves, which will reduce your concentration and ability somewhat. And watch out for nervous sweat around your lips making your mouthpiece slide around your face! Ideally, choose pieces with different styles (eg Hummel Concerto last movement for all that tonguing plus, maybe, some of the slow section of the Arutyunyan to show your legato playing).
These pieces would normally be with piano accompanimet (mamianka, please take note!). You will also be asked to play lots of orchestral extracts - some of which you will have seen before (because, presumably, they will send them to you) and some of which will be sight-reading. Get plenty of sight-reading practice! Favourites for inclusion are often Mahler Symphony No 5 (famous trumpet opening), various bits of Strauss' Don Juan, some Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich etc. There are numerous books of orchestral extracts for trumpet which, after 50 years' playing, I'm sure you already own. Familiarise yourself with as many of these as you can.
You will not hack it as a professional orchestral player by just playing the Bb instrument. You need to be prepared to be comfortable on the D/Eb instruments as well (for those nasty high parts and for scores that specify the smaller trumpets). You also need to be an excellent transposer for all those Classical parts in various keys for natural trumpets. They might ask you to show you can do this by giving you an awkward transposing part (eg a Mozart or Haydn part for trumpet in G, or one of the many American 'trumpet in C' parts). You would not normally be expected to be a picc player so don't worry too much about this. Competition will be very hot. There will be a load of bright young virtuosi fresh out of music college (and standards are scarily high now compared to 50 years ago) so, unless you really know you're an excellent player, don't put yourself through it.
I hope I have been of some use. I deliberately have only hinted at the Hummel and the Arutyunyan because I feel you will be the best judge of which pieces will do you the most justice. Hopefully this will give you a springboard for further consideration.
how about a nice baby lullabye ?
i don't know too much about this. but i think you should play a song that you know well. a song that others know well too. whatever song you know well will be the song to show your range, pitch, octaves, trople tonguing, speed changes, and/or soft/loud.
Gotta be a spoof. If you really have played ANY serious orchestral instrument for 50 years, then your use of appropriate terminology would be more accurate that what you posed in your question. OR - I can assume that this is NOT a professional orchestra, but an amateur group, and that it attracts people of your same level of playing. In that second case, then whatever you play will be fine - the adjudicators can tell by your resume and playing whether you are suitable or not. And you do not audition on Bb trumpet - serious orchestral musicians own trumpets in various pitched sizes.
Orchestral auditions are NOT held with piano accompaniment. They usually consists of playing excerpts from a pre-selected list, and behind a screen. You haven't done this before I would gather - in your 50 years of playing.
According to the answerer above you should just play "Taps" and foget about it.
Myself, I'd recommend something jazzy, Herb Alpert perhaps.
Well, for your solo piece could always play two contrasting pieces. Maybe one fast and one slow piece. Or one modern and one classical piece. You won't have time to play both all the way through, but you will demonstrate your range of playing. You also might want to find out what pieces the group has performed recently and play a tricky passage from one of those pieces. Usually you will be asked to sight read a passage as well. And by mamianka giving herself the title of 'music director' I can only assume she works in music education, in which case she probably has no idea what she is talking about. Everyone knows music ed. degrees focus to much on the education and not enough on music. I think it is great that you are taking the plunge after so many years of playing! I can't give you specific tips because I am a string player but the best of luck to you!!
first of all, mimianka is a b@#$@#@tch!!! she can take that bflat and shove it up....but, i digress...
how about something by brahms or dvorak...don't know too much about trumpet...i'm a French horn...happy day, beautiful!!