4-2-24

For this blog post, we thought it would be fascinating for our audience to get an inside look at the audition process.  The first half of the blog is from the point of view of our Principal Flutist, Lisa Wienhold, who was on the audition committee, and the second half from the POV of Tessa Vermeulen, the candidate that won the audition and has since started the job with the orchestra.  The audition Tessa won was for the position of Assistant Principal Flute/2nd Flute, and was held in October of 2023.  It is a little longer than our usual posts, but we think the read is definitely worth it!

Lisa Wienhold: Principal Flute

Over the course of my 30+ years orchestral career, I have been on both sides of the audition screen.  What’s an audition screen you may ask?  Unless you are involved in actively auditioning for professional orchestras, it’s likely a mystery. Let me solve it for you!  

In the 1970-80s, orchestras began “blind auditions”.  This was an attempt to make the audition process more fair.  Prior to this, orchestras often hired players in auditions where the candidates were known to the conductor and/or the audition committee.  Sometimes there were not even auditions – a player might just be “appointed” by a music director. Perhaps as a result, women and minorities have been historically underrepresented. Doriot Anthony Dwyer, principal flutist of the Boston Symphony joined the orchestra in 1952 and was one of the first women to hold a principal position in a major American Orchestra.  Some European orchestras were even slower to hire women.  Great strides have been made towards more equality, though we still have a ways to go in many respects.  Many orchestras have implemented programs to increase diversity in their ranks.  I believe this will become more and more common.  Blind auditions are a good start and have become the standard for most American orchestras.   

 When we hold auditions for the ASO we hear everyone who would like to audition.  The number of applicants can vary quite a bit, but when I won my job here there were 96 very fine flutists – I am indeed fortunate to have been awarded the position! For our most recent flute audition we had about 50-60 applicants and approximately 40 came to the audition. Applicants are given an audition day and time and a list of “excerpts”. This included a solo piece, and excerpts from the standard orchestral repertoire. These will be the hardest snippets of music we are required to play on the job, and they will encompass music from Bach to Stravinsky. I believe that our list was fairly reasonable (perhaps a question for our audition winner!).  Because the position that Tessa auditioned for is titled “Assistant principal/2nd flute” applicants were asked to play excerpts from the principal flute, 2nd flute and some piccolo parts.  You have to be a jack of all trades for a position like this one! 

On the day of the audition applicants are appointed times by the hour, and usually 6-7 players are heard within each hour.  The audition committee sits behind a screen – finally the explanation of the mysterious title!   A large curtain is put up in the audience seating in the concert hall in front of where the committee sits, to shield the auditionee on the stage from the committee. We only know the applicant by a number, and there is even a carpet path for the applicants to walk on so that nothing is revealed by shoes or footsteps. I think that these changes that have been made to the audition process over time have resulted in a more diverse population in the ASO and in orchestras across the US.   

I am happy to say that in all the auditions I have been involved in, the audition committee (made up here of the principal winds and the Music Director) has been able to reach a consensus fairly easily.  Over the course of my time playing in orchestras, I have been on audition committees about 15-20 times.  Musicians on these committees take our responsibility very seriously, but it can be challenging to listen to the same 5-10 minutes of music repeated by every applicant.  It helps me to remember my experience as the person auditioning and how nerve wracking and difficult the process can be.  

Although I only knew her playing by her number until the very end,Tessa’s playing leapt out at me right away as being exceptional.  On the committee we are evaluating all aspects of a musician’s playing: tone, technique, rhythm, intonation, phrasing and style, and they have a very short time to impress us.  Tessa certainly did!  After playing a semi-final round where she was 1 of 9 players, and a final round of 4 players  (a round I played with her and the other finalists) we were happy to offer her the position.  

I remember the several times that I won an audition, and that feeling is indescribable. To have worked for so many years with a single minded goal, and to have finally obtained it, was euphoric.  I will take this opportunity to say “Congratulations and welcome to the ASO Tessa!” We are so happy to have you as a member!

Tessa Vermeulen: Audition Candidate and Now Assistant Principal/2nd Flute

I began taking professional auditions in the last year of my undergraduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to winning the ASO position, I had been attending the Juilliard School pursuing my master’s degree, and was taking as many auditions as I possibly could.

So, let’s say I’ve been invited to the audition and now it’s time to prepare…the meat of the whole experience. Auditions are composed of orchestral “excerpts.” These are short passages from relevant orchestral pieces that, when played beautifully, demonstrate your ability to perform specific technical and musical acrobatics on your instrument. For example, it’s crucial for the orchestra to hire someone who can play in time, go from a bombastic to a delicate sound on a whim, and always remain in tune (not letting the pitch go high or low). These are marvelous challenges! One excerpt that covers all the aforementioned points on the flute is Beethoven’s Overture to Leonore. This excerpt has become a close friend of mine, as it’s on nearly every flute list. You’ll likely also be asked for parts from solo pieces for your instrument. The one that frequents flute audition lists is Mozart’s Concerto in G Major or D Major. Both these works expose immediately if the player doesn’t have the fundamental technical skills or the musical spirit to convince the listener.

It’s worth mentioning that unlike a regular performance, in which you perform a whole piece start to finish with all the instruments, you are alone for auditions and playing many unrelated snippets, like a chain of movie scenes out-of-context. Imagine writing a book out of disjunct paragraphs; in one moment, a woman is standing on a tranquil beach, and in the next, there’s a car chase. The only way this story would succeed in translating to anything of meaning is if each mood is crafted and cared about individually. Then, the reader cannot help but be in awe of each specific feeling transmitted. This means that each excerpt must represent the character of the orchestral work as a whole, whether it is raw and jubilant like Bartok, or misty like Debussy.

This ideology is on the forefront of my mind as I begin the fundamental work on the audition list. Practicing involves dedicating several hours a day to the list, so your life revolves around it. On the first day of prep, I play through every excerpt and determine which ones I am the least familiar with. As you gain audition experience, and because there are several excerpts you can expect to encounter on every list, you won’t be starting at square one. But there will always be some oddballs or ones that are simply difficult to execute. I can expect to practice those daily until perhaps a week before the audition day. Then there are some I might only need to look at every other day, and ones that are in my back pocket already, so to speak. My goal is always to cover the entire list in depth in one week. After I categorize them all this way, I create “mock lists” for myself, and I record myself playing them back to back without stopping. I then listen back, take notes on what needs help, and then address those things before recording it again to see the improvement. This is tough, and sometimes feels like you’re listening to a playback of your speaking voice (can anyone be at ease when doing that)? However, it’s crucial to accept whatever art you have created that day, and find the personal touches in it that are authentic to you. Only then can you listen back like a loving parent to your creation instead of becoming a tyrant and scaring the spark away.

A few weeks before the audition, I schedule multiple “mock auditions” with my teachers and peers, because performing for an actual audience feels incredibly surreal. Things will come out of your instrument, both miraculous and horrifying when in the presence of thoughtful listeners. You need to learn your reactions to excitement in order to channel them for the real event. In one mock audition for the Alabama Symphony, I got a group of 5 musician friends to listen to my whole list and give me feedback afterward. What they didn’t tell me is that they had hidden intentions….to try to make me laugh while I was playing. This could be categorized as “adversity training” with a fun spin. As I lifted my flute to play Claude Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun, the most graceful and soft flute solo, they acted ridiculously to force me to focus. They really didn’t hold back. They played loud music on their phones, talked in weird voices to one another while I played, or got up and slammed doors. I fared pretty well regardless of their antics, so I felt prepared. And guess what? There were no such antics from the actual ASO panel! Thank goodness.

The final stage: the audition. About a week before, I make sure to return to a more “normal” practice routine to remain fresh and energized. I review excerpts regularly, but remind myself not to reinvent the wheel at this late stage. The big day itself is about best presenting the ideas you’ve already formed. As my undergraduate flute teacher once told me, “you’ve made your painting, now it’s time to frame it behind glass and hang it on the wall.” An audition is a rare opportunity for expression because you’re guaranteed the attention of the finest musicians and can share with them a piece of who you are. Auditioning became an integral part of my life and has revealed to me the most beautiful aspects of performing. I couldn’t have been happier to succeed in the ASO audition and be afforded the chance to play with such talented musicians.