Audition Reflection

Note: this post was originally featured in my newsletter in January 2025.

Last week (Wednesday 01/22/25), I auditioned for the second oboe chair with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera. I was unsuccessful, but played musically and got through the whole list. Of course I’m disappointed, but I’ve been trying to learn from the experience so I can do better at my next audition. 

I realize that most of you reading this newsletter won’t go on to audition for a professional orchestra like I’ll continue to do, but I imagine we’ll all at some point play an audition of some kind, so hopefully the things I’ve learned through taking many auditions will be helpful to you. 

1. You can play all the notes correctly and still be rejected by the panel. The panel is listening for accuracy AND tone AND intonation AND phrasing AND anything subjective to their wishes. It’s not enough to play correctly, so…

2. Aim to play in a way that represents your best qualities. This includes expressive elements like phrasing, dynamic range and control, vibrato, interpretation. If you play musically and at a tempo that’s comfortable for you yet appropriate for the piece, that’s where you’ll find success. 

3. Prepare for a weird time. I have had countless strange things happen to me at professional auditions that threw me off. Try to mentally prepare for all eventualities including: being forgotten in the warm up room, your reed getting broken right before you go in to play, a really cold or hot room, water getting in your keys, having to restart an excerpt, and anything else you can think of maybe happening. Think about how you can adapt to each situation and bring any additional gear with you. For example: put a swab and cigarette paper in your pocket in case you get water in your keys. 

4. Playing in front of others (and recording yourself) is essential to the process of preparing for an audition. The best way to prepare to feel nervous is to put yourself into a situation in which you feel nervous by playing for others. You don’t have to start with playing for the most intimidating person you know, you can start small with video-calling a relative or friend you’re close to. Make sure to play a few in-person run-throughs if at all possible. This gives you the opportunity to feel nerves and figure out how to adapt to those feelings. 

5. There are some physical responses to the stress/adrenaline you’ll feel that will be out of your control. In my case, I’ve been experiencing physical shaking - not just of my hands but sometimes of my whole body - that throws off my playing. Last week I had only a few instances of that happening which is a huge improvement, but the previous audition I took, I shook so badly during my solo (that I had chosen!) that I made mistakes and the shaking ruined my vibrato. 

   
   

My biggest obstacle in taking auditions is going to be adapting to the shaking that I’ve experienced at two separate auditions. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do any in-person mock auditions this time because my schedule was too busy, and I think that’s part of the problem that I need to keep working on. 

Some musicians counteract the shaking by taking beta blockers. I have taken beta blockers in the past at auditions, but I remember disliking how they made me feel afterwards. I also haven’t experienced the shakes like this before, so perhaps medication is something I should try next time. 

Regardless of my result, I played as best as I could, and felt victorious immediately upon exiting the audition room, so I think that’s something to trust and celebrate. 

As you approach your next audition, remember that you might not achieve your desired result. Decide well ahead of time what aspect of the audition you can feel proud about and aim to do that no matter what. In my case, my aim was to play expressively with clear, logical phrasing, and I definitely did that - I sounded amazing!

Is there anything that you do to prepare for an audition that I didn’t mention? Reply and let me know!

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