a five minute audition could be worth five million dollars.
winning an orchestra job means a life in music. it means a salary and a career of musical fulfillment.
it also means going head-to-head against the most formidable competitors on your instrument. auditions are the olympics of classical music.
in 2019, a cellist named maria reached out to me about her audition struggles. on paper, she was the “worst audition candidate ever” (her words). she had 2 small children, a full-time teaching job, and hadn’t taken an audition in 4 years.