Tags
Auditions are a lot like job interviews.
When job coaches write about interview preparation, they talk about how to make a good first impression:
-
Sit toward the front of the couch or chair so you can stand easily.
-
Have your resume in your left hand, ready to go.
-
Stand immediately when the interviewer enters the room.
-
Smile and shake hands.
Why is all of that important?
-
You don’t want to be sunk into the couch (bad posture, hard to stand).
-
You don’t want to have to dive into your briefcase to look for your resume.
-
You want to appear alert, not reluctant.
-
Just because you’re nervous doesn’t mean you can’t smile.
In auditions, the same mindset sometimes eludes us. Last weekend I was house accompanist for several auditions, so there was plenty of time to observe a variety of entrances into the room.
Some things to look at:
-
Arrive warmed up! The audition panel is not there to give you practice time.
-
Have your resume in your hand. If you carry a briefcase, great. But digging around is a waste of everyone’s time.
-
Knowing your range would be helpful.
-
Look at your music after making copies! Is the entire piano part visible? (If the bass line is missing on the last staff, you may hear something you weren’t expecting.)
- Make sure the song/aria title, show/opera, and composer appear on the first page of the copy.
-
Punch holes in the copies, then put them into a binder back-to-back. If the copies are single sided, then tape the pages so the pianist can turn them easily.
-
Find the tempo on your metronome. Then write the metronome marking at the top of the music. This gives the pianist something to go on. S/he only has about 3 seconds before your audition starts.
-
Don’t offer excuses to the audition panel. Everyone knows you’re nervous. If you weren’t, you’d sound like a robot. Excuses make you sound unprofessional and could cost you a part.
What we can do
- Practice warming up in the car, even on non-audition days.
- Practice our entrance in the mirror.
- Practice our entrance and our music on our friends.
- Practice breathing exercises to control nervousness.
- Do more auditions to become used to the process.