One of the ways I get the most bang from my buck at auditions is to gather as much feedback as possible. I always email the audition coordinator after the audition, but rarely get a response.

As a result, I got into the habit of recording my auditions and sending them to my teachers for feedback. I strongly recommend doing this! Bring along a folder or binder and stick your phone in. I start recording as soon as someone comes to walk me to the stage, so I don’t have to mess with it once I’m on stage. I didn’t start doing this until 2019, but it has given me so much more clarity and direction in preparing auditions.

Once at the Sioux Falls audition several years ago, I got one or two sentences. The other two times have been from the Dallas Symphony. I commend them on providing an incredibly well run and supportive audition experience! Both times, upon request, they sent me the complete comment sheets from the audition committee.

In 2019, my first DSO audition, several of the scans were unfortunately too light to read, but this time around, I could read everything on my feedback sheets. It is fascinating to read these comments! If you are fortunate to receive this kind of feedback from your committee, keep the following in consideration:

1. There will be conflicting opinions on your playing.
2. Look for recurring comments and consider these more deeply.
3. If an aspect of your playing is good, there may be little or no comments on it.
4. Listeners decide quickly if they suspect there is an issue, and use the rest of the audition to support their initial hypothesis.

Here are the full comments:

Now, let’s look at the comments by excerpt… (Continued on page 2)

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