The results are in...

for the Winston-Salem Symphony extras audition last week. There were four of us in the audition but there was not one person that performed so much better than the others that there was a clear "winner" for the first slot on the extras list. This was my closest audition situation I've had to a professional audition so it was a new experience for me. I'm surprised that I didn't actually feel nervous in the normal way I usually do, but I guess my nervousness manifested itself in other ways. All the instruments were set up and the audition "committee" (my teacher and the recording equipment) were behind a screen. As soon as I got into the room and Mr. Beck started giving instructions ("play Sheherezade excerpt #1 on the snare drum") I couldn't concentrate on what was being said. Since this was a blind audition I couldn't ask what he said since that would give away who I was so I went ahead and played what I thought he said. At one point I did play the wrong thing because he said play the second line from the top and I played the second line from the bottom.

Although I didn't do as well as I could have I'm very glad we had this so early in my schooling here; it really shows me where I need to go and how I need to be completely familiar with all the excerpts. One of the hardest things was changing gears from one excerpt or instrument to another--getting into the feel of the new excerpt and remembering how the music sounded. I definitely have a lot of work ahead of me here. Onward!

Practice

I suppose tonight will be the first of many late-night practice sessions. Just got back from practicing for about 2 1/2 hours and it feels really good. Surprisingly I'm not completely tired but I did have about a three hour nap this afternoon which I really needed. I was talking to my brother Brandon earlier this or last week and he mentioned one person's philosophy of completing something all at one setting, no matter what it is. Brandon said he was going to try this with composition and I thought I would try that at practicing. I don't think you can really learn a piece of music all in one setting but as I practiced tonight with that mind-set in mind I think it gave me a bit more urgency to trying to learn the music. I was more focused.

One thing that was interesting about this practice session is that the time went by very quickly. I guess this could also be due to the concentration I was putting into the music. I wonder if my job has also prepared me for this; everyday I have a deadline to be sure certain things are completed by the end of the day so I always push myself to work as quick and efficient as possible. Hopefully that is crossing over into my practice ethic.