violinist & educator

I was in Buffalo, NY over the past weekend taking my first major symphony audition in a little over two years.  It was major because I was really attracted to the job, I knew the conductor (not personally but have worked under her), and the excerpt list was relatively short and easy.  My preparation for this audition had renewed energy because most of the excerpts were new and not of the same-old standards, but at the same time that could’ve fare negatively for me as I’ve never worked on them before.  All in all, the trip was a good one and like every other time, I’ve learned a great deal about myself.

Things I liked and helped me:

1. flying JetBlue – The seats were so comfortable with personal TV screen and plenty of legroom, clean and simple flight area, respectful and efficient flight crew.  I also love their logo and colors.
2. flying in a day early – I liked doing this at the time because I had a whole day to get in the zone, and I did pretty well.  I had a great isolated room at the end of a hallway in the Holiday Inn hotel (king size bed too!).
3. planning my practice and day as I go – I’m not a spontaneous person, but I can go with the flow.  I plan out what I want to practice by chunks of time with set goals, then take a break by going out for a walk or snacking, then I have a “mock audition” practice and/or “slow and careful” practice.  I alternate these chunks throughout the day.
4. eating right – For me, the act of eating meat gives me energy, so since I was in Buffalo, I made sure to eat a roast beef sandwich for lunch everyday, with granola bars and yogurt for snacks, and a salad for dinner.  Haha, for some reason, I really just wanted to eat well during this audition.  Maybe I should’ve cared more about what I drank too.

Things that can be better/improved/re-thought:

1. drink just water – I made the awful mistake, and realized too late, that I’ve been drinking small amounts of caffeine on my audition day.  It’s an energizing tea that I usually drink everyday, so I never thought twice about it until it was too late and I was well into my Mozart 39 excerpt.  Luckily I didn’t crash and burn, but I was so close.  The scary thing was that it was totally out of my control and that’s not a good feeling.
2. booking a hotel and flight too early – Basically I was out there for one day too long.  Audition was Monday afternoon, so I could’ve flown in that morning, checked into a hotel for 3 hours and practiced, taken the audition and then leave.  But might be too radical.  Next time i’ll just buy a refundable hotel and flight, and stay longer if I have to :)
3. play for more people and get nervous – Definitely need to do more of this!

So it looks like this wasn’t a wasted trip.  I felt lucky that I had smooth trip logistics, audition process, and weather.  Things actually looked like there were working for me.  However, I missed one small piece and it threw me off track.  I felt bad after my audition, but mostly because my body was unfair to me and prevented me from sounding my best.  I’m determined to do everything I can in my control for my next auditions in August.  Wish me luck!