Lessons Learned from a Recent Audition

A few weeks ago I did something fairly normal for us bassists, but which I did not expect to do during my several month trip to Thailand, which was take an orchestra audition.  Even stranger for me was that I learned about the audition and decided to play in it less than a month before the audition date. 

I had gotten used to the process of American orchestras, where you check musicalchairs and start working on a list well in advance, taking lessons and playing for colleagues or other people who make you nervous as you prepare for weeks and weeks.  This isn’t the standard for everywhere in the world, however, and as I have been seeing a lot since finishing school, if you want opportunities sometimes you have to look for them creatively and then you just have to go for it.  

This audition was for a substitute position with the Malaysia Philharmonic, which I only learned about because of a strange series of circumstances:

1. I happened to take a long weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur because, in order to get a visa to stay in Thailand as long as I wanted to, I had to book a trip out of the country for some point during my stay and Kuala Lumpur was the cheapest flight.

2. My boyfriend had heard that Kuala Lumpur had a decent orchestra, so we looked it up, realized they were playing a concert while we were there and got tickets.

3. While buying tickets on the orchestras website, we got curious, wound up on their audition page, and realized that they were holding substitute auditions in a month and thought, “Oh, too bad we’re not going to be in Southeast Asia for long enough that it’s worth it to try to sub with them.”

4. Went to the concert, were blown away by the orchestra AND upon sitting down saw that the principal second violinist was a girl who we had gone to Yale with.

5. After the concert, talked to the violinist and learned that the orchestra uses a lot of substitutes, and, because they’re funded by the Petronas Energy Company (of the Petronas Towers where the orchestra performs), has the money to fly people in to sub with them. 

6. The next day submitted an online application for the audition an hour before the deadline and about 3 weeks before the audition date. 

Lessons learned:

-       There are orchestras that you’ve never heard of that sound awesome. 

Malaysia Phil, with Barbora Kolarova,
a classmate from Yale, sitting principal 2nd

-       The music world is SO SMALL!  You never know when you’ll run into someone you know, even on the other side of the world.

-       Not all orchestras function the same way. Especially if you want to take auditions outside the US, you have to look hard to find them, and they may not work the way you expect them to. 

Thus began several weeks of frantic audition preparations.  Fortunately, the list was small and it was all standard rep.  Unfortunately and completely my fault, I had let myself get lazy in my time out of school and was not in great playing shape.  And to further that, I was playing on the Chinese factory bass that I played in high school, and didn’t think I could have a chance at being competitive with it, even in the best circumstances.

During my audition preparations, there were some things I had to do differently than I usually would because I was out of shape and had limited time.  Mainly, practice technique. And repeatedly promise myself that I won’t get stuck in this position in the future. 

There are also some fairly standard things that I’ve done before to prepare for an audition that I did again, although many not as diligently as I should have:

1. Set a timeline of small goals leading up to the audition to make sure I stay on schedule (aka with tempos, parts comfortable of concertos, etc).  I didn’t formally write this out because the list was so small, but usually I would, and I should have this time too.

2. Record myself and take notes.  Again, did not do this as often as I should have.

3. Play mock auditions for people who scare you.  And do them before you feel ready to (do you ever really feel ready? I for sure don’t). This was the most challenging to set up because I have been living completely outside of a musical community.  I played one or two mock auditions for my boyfriend, but I should have also sent videos to people and asked for feedback or played for people on skype.  Even if the connection isn’t perfect, it can still do a good job of making you nervous. 

4. Practice being focused.  Especially in the week leading up to the audition, I try to take time before playing each excerpt to imagine being in the audition, getting nervous and then settling my brain before playing.  It sounds like a tedious waste of time, but this has proved completely necessary for me.

Lessons learned: Despite not having taken tons of auditions, I actually have an idea of what I should be doing to prepare for one! The greater problem is shutting up and doing it. 

- The biggest thing to not be lazy about is playing for people. During the audition I was more nervous than I have been in a long time, and I REALLY wished I had set up more mock auditions.

And then there are the preparations that don’t have to do with your instrument:

1. Travel - I planned to travel to Kuala Lumpur a few days ahead of the audition to make sure I would be relaxed there, and of course if you’re traveling for an audition, you might as well make a mini-vacation out of it! 

2. Where to stay - I found an AirBnB on the same metro-line as the hall (especially important to think about location when you have a bass), and, because my boyfriend was also auditioning for a sub spot (they had several instruments open), found an AirBnB with a separate living room, not just a studio, so that we would both be able to practice. 

3. Get off of caffeine.  I know this sounds crazy when you have a lot of work to do, but it’s proved necessary for me, both to control my nerves during the audition itself and to limit my anxiety in the week leading up to it.  Two weeks before, I start weaning myself off of coffee.  It’s proof that I should probably never have caffeine, but I just love coffee.  What can I do? 

Lessons learned: These outside things really do make a difference for me.   Take control of the things you can so that the things that you can’t control are less stressful. 

All in all, this was a fairly positive experience for me!  

1. I got good feedback from the principal bassist, and although I haven’t heard results from the orchestra yet, it was still a good opportunity to make a new contact. 

2. I forced myself to get back in shape and practice, and quickly!

3. I realized how quickly I can throw something together if I really want to, and was reminded of the importance of being prepared even when you don’t think you have anything coming up. 

Lessons learned: Once again, go for it, even when you don’t think you’re ready. I was surprised by a lot of things in this entire process, including myself, and because of that I feel more ready for whatever’s coming next, even though I don’t know what that is. 

The hall where the auditions were held,
not intimidating at all... 

Petronas Towers, home of the Malaysia Phil.