Auditions
Frankly, I’m the wrong guy to ask. I was a freelancer. Every freelance gig is an “audition.” I’ve only played four formal orchestra auditions – mostly just to see “what was on the other side of the mountain” – and won two “Triple-A” gigs – never made “The Show”. (To be clear, I had a fairly “Big-League” career, just not in a major symphony orchestra.) If auditioning for – and winning – an orchestra job is your goal, study with somebody who has a track record of training audition winners! That said . . .
If you would like to hear a couple (different vintage) winning audition tapes:
Mr. Yeo’s Symphony Auditions: Preparation and Execution is worth checking out.
Mr. Bassett has some advice on the audition process. (My students should note: “fundamentals!” and “slow!”)
James Markey’s masterclass “Preparing Yourself For A Winning Audition” is simply excellent.
Actors audition constantly and can offer advice:
The Greatest Game Ever Played, tells us a lot about performance and concentration.
Violist Mick Wetzel wrote How to Win an Audition for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It’s worth a read. (My students may recognize a couple ideas.) Doug Yeo presented How Good is Good Enough? on January 9, 2013 at Arizona State University. (The answer to that question is a little different for a studio musician.)
The One Hundred Essential Works for the Symphonic Bass Trombonist by Douglas Yeo and The One Hundred – Essential Works for the Symphonic Tenor Trombonist by Megumi Kanda are both wonderful. Seth Vatt’s tromboneexcerpts.org is a great resource. His two books, The Perceptive Trombonist, volumes 1 & 2, are very good. They are available at momusmusiceditions.com. Keith Brown’s classic Orchestral Excerpts from the Symphonic Repertoire and Alfred Stoneberg’s Modern Orchestral Studies for Trombone & Tuba are available is available as downloadable pdfs from QPRESS. And Bruno Ferrari’s Passi Difficili e “A Solo” per Trombone e Basso Tuba, volumes 1-4 can be tough to find, but has a lot of accurate excepts “da opere liriche italiane.“
However, it’s best to acquire the actual parts, if possible. Gordon Cherry’s Low Brass Orchestra Collection contains “thousands of pages of original Low Brass Orchestra parts for Trombone, Tuba, Tenor Tuba, Bass Trumpet and Alto Trombone.” The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) has many scores and parts – but be careful of copyright. Copyright Law is different in different countries – pay attention!
Also, see “Nerves” at Maladies & Remedies and Excerpt Resources.
Finally, Stefan Dohr (Principal Horn, Berlin Philharmonic) has wise advice that is, I think, vital. I remember flailing through William Tell Overture in a community orchestra my freshman year in college. I was in over my head; it was my Waterloo! It took me years to un-learn that that lick is “hard” to play! (My piano teacher always told me there is neither “hard” nor “easy” – only things you know how to do and things you do not. “It’s all easy when you know how to do it.”) Getting “out over your skis” on repertoire can have long term deleterious consequeces!