<p>My son has an upcoming auditions for youth symphony chair placement which he is told will be a ‘blind audition’, which he has no experience with. Any advice to offer for those of you who have been through this type of audition? There are only 4-5 people on his instrument, so obviously any ‘clearing of the throat’ etc. will make gender obvious I would think. (I’m wondering how ‘blind’ these auditions really turn out to be, especially if the student is a returnee–tone quality etc. might be recognizable). What does he do if he has a question about what they are asking for? (He is told not to speak or make any sound during the audition). Usually, he dresses nicely for auditions–but in this case, need he bother? He’s had many auditions, but just wondering if there is anything in particular he should know about auditioning to a screen. :-)</p>
<p>Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard of a “screened” audition at the youth symphony level. Might be an attempt to alleviate a perceived (or real) history of favoritism, a learning experience, or an attempt to instill a sense of professionalism.</p>
<p>One of the biggest giveaways in blind auditions can be footsteps. Walking across stage, or an uncarpeted floor is usually one way to tell a male from female candidate. Males usually have a heavier tread, or sometimes a female’s shoe type and corresponding footfalls will indicate gender.</p>
<p>At the pro level, they’ll use a carpeted runner to mask this.</p>
<p>But this isn’t Vienna.</p>
<p>Tell him to relax. If he has a question, there may well be an assistant just offstage that he might (softly) ask his question. The assistant can relay the question to the adjudicators. I’ve heard of this method being used. DO have him ask the procedural process for questions at sign in and PRIOR to him hitting the stage.</p>
<p>Many things might give away a player’s identity. Panels can often identify a particular player by instrument or style.</p>
<p>As for dress, I would not necessarily dress as nicely (collared shirt, khaki’s would be fine), there is no real need to go full tilt. On the same token, one should not show up grungy or unkempt.</p>
<p>Good luck to him.</p>
<p>All of our youth symphony auditions were blind. So were All State and District auditions. </p>
<p>But there was never any doubt that the more well-known players were recognized. It is just an attempt on the judges part to remove as many distractions as possible.</p>
<p>My S plays worse at blind auditions; he likes an audience. But he’s learning. That’s the best part about starting them young - gives you practice.</p>
<p>I agree that your S should still look nice. There are folks besides the judges who will see him. Doesn’t need to be too dressy, but needs to be neat, and wearing something he plays well in.</p>
<p>Agree with the above regarding being able to identify players familiar to the judges by their tone/playing style. My brother has been in the professional end all of his life and has seen dozens of these “blind” auditions. That being said, if you have a judge or 2 who doesn’t have a pet project in the field, the curtain does help level the playing field.</p>
<p>Blind auditions at the regional and state levels was my experience. Still, you are right; many can identify the players by style. I know one teacher picked out my son easily as she told us afterwards. </p>
<p>In this case, it was not an issue of whether some individuals were identified but to make sure that those who were judging were not prejudiced to their own schools when it came to border line cases. There had been some complaints that certain schools were way overrepresented. I think the truly outstanding, unusual players may be identifiable, but certainly not everyone is which makes it a bit fairer for the borderline spots.</p>
<p>So the secret is to try to imitate the tone quality of the top player on your instrument, even if you’re not technically as good–the judges might think you’re him or her and just having a bad day.</p>
<p>My daughter went through these “blind” auditions in youth symphony and various honors ensembles. In the youth symphony auditions, she was one of three bassists playing for people who worked with her and heard her playing nearly every week. They knew who was who by the second or third note but went through this charade mostly to try to minimize complaints from the parents regarding seating placement and solos. Usually, they got the same complaints from the same set of parents no matter what procedure they used. It probably mattered just a little more for instruments like violin and cello, where there were a lot more kids auditioning. Picking out the top few kids and the bottom few is never all that hard. Sorting out the ones in the middle is generally where things are less obvious. </p>
<p>In honors ensemble auditions, she could get almost any high school music teacher in the state and, though a few of them might recognize her playing from having worked with her, it was rare that she would actually be judged by someone who knew her playing that well.</p>
<p>To answer your specific questions, if your son has been in that youth symphony for at least a year, or if he is the only new player in that section this year, the judges will probably know who is playing with 90% or better certainty. If they have told him not to speak or make any sounds, he should follow that protocol short of an emergency and make his best guess at what is being requested. There may be a proctor on his side of the curtain to whom he can gesture or write a note. </p>
<p>He should dress the same way he would for any other audition. It helps to reinforce the concept that all auditions are really performances, and it removes the possibility that a judge will see him after the audition is over and (even if only subconsciously) feel that he was dressed inappropriately.</p>
<p>Some people need the instant feedback that they get from a live audience to bring out their best playing and can be thrown off their stride when they know they have an intent listener whom they cannot see. He may want to try practicing his audition material once or twice under those conditions before going into the actual audition.</p>
<p>I also do better auditioning in front of real people. Maybe it would help him to practice playing for an audience in front of a screen at home. The thing to do is set up a ‘screen’- maybe a blanket between two music stands- and have him walk in from the other room in silence. He should sit down and play without saying anything–to make the situation as close to a blind audition as possible, so he gets used to the feeling.</p>
<p>I never took the time to thank you all for your advice–it was much appreciated–or update on how things went. S decided to wear his usual audition attire, which is his favorite shirt and tie. We saw the range from flip-flops and shorts to dress shirts and slacks in the warmup room, so he didn’t feel out of place. It helped when he saw in the warmup room that there was another clarinetist of his same gender, so he didn’t have to worry too much about them figuring out he was a boy. The audition went fine, and in fact he returned to the warmup room with a big smile on his face–and this is something because he is usually the picture of seriousness. He said it was one of those ‘dream’ auditions–where everything seems to go well, the reed feels great, and the fingers do what they are told. It didn’t really make much of a difference that they were behind a screen to him; he just went in gave his best effort. Of course, we won’t find out the results until the first rehearsal, but all in all, I think he has pleasant memories of his first screened audition and won’t give it a second thought next time he encounters one. Thanks again, everyone!</p>
<p>Congratulations! Isn’t it a thrilling moment when your kid comes out of an audition feeling good?</p>
<p>As a petite female brass player (horn), my daughter feels strongly that blind auditions are the most professional way to go. Interestingly she seems to usually get higher seating assignments when the auditions are blind.</p>
<p>Every symphony and other performing group uses its own criteria when doing auditions, some are blind (which is the way pro orchestras generally do it), some are face to face. There are pluses and minuses to both approaches, and when it comes to seating auditions or returning players, it is pretty likely they will know who they are auditioning, especially when it is an instrument with relatively few people playing it, like a tuba or clarinet).</p>
<p>My son’s old violin teacher, who is a principal chair of a relatively high level orchestra, said that going into an audition requires that you prepare hard and early, that when someone auditions they generally will play at a level where they were the month before…and it seems to be a good rule of thumb.</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>