Students in grades 5-12 who play orchestral and band
instruments are eligible to audition.
Auditions are scheduled according to instrument.
Every musician must audition each year.
Members are selected and seated by ability rather than
age or grade.
The auditions are six to eight minutes long (twelve
minutes for percussionists).
Each student should prepare a piece that
demonstrates his/her proficiency on the instrument. Percussionists should
include snare, timpani, and mallet selections.
Sight-reading and scales are also included in the
audition.
NEW!!!!! Audition dress
code: Business casual - no jeans, no
shorts, no sneakers, no noisy flip-flops. Dress for success!!!!
Parents are not permitted in
the audition area. They should wait for their child(ren) in the warm-up area or other
designated place.
There is a nonrefundable
$10 audition fee to secure an audition appointment.
Some tips for a successful audition:
Practice your scales.
String players: Entry level string players must be able to
play one-octave scales in the keys of
C, G, D and F. Two to three-octave major scales up to
4 sharps and 4 flats may be asked of all other string players.
Woodwind and brass players: Entry level players must be
able to play one-octave scales in concert keys up to 4
sharps and 4 flats. All other students may be asked to play two-octave scales in concert keys up to 4 sharps and 4
flats through their range.
Choose a solo you can play
well. Have it well-prepared. The adjudicator is not interested
in when you started learning the solo; s/he will judge you on how
well you play it. Choose a solo that shows off your ability. It
should not be too easy, but if it is beyond your ability, it will
hurt your audition score. Recognize that you will probably
not perform your entire solo piece as audition time is limited.
If the adjudicator asks you to stop, it is because s/he has heard
what is needed.
Sight reading is a part of each audition. Practice sight reading with your teacher at each lesson.
Be early for your audition, so that you can complete any necessary paperwork, warm up and be ready to do
your best. We recommend that you arrive at least 15 minutes before
your scheduled audition time.
The GBYO bases placement on an
objective scoring process that measures scales, intonation, tone quality,
rhythm, articulation, dynamics, phrasing, expression and technique on the
instrument. The suggestions above serve only as guidelines.
Eligibility for each orchestra/wind ensemble is ultimately determined by
the student's over all ability level and the adjudicators' judgment as to
where the student will have the best possible experience.
Below are the first of the consecutive
segments of Mr. Hisey's audition seminar, presented on May 10, 2010.
Because YouTube has a 10-minute limit per video, the seminar must be
viewed in multiple sections. As further sections are
completed, they will be added.
