A friend of mine and myself recently applied to an audition for a regional orchestra. I’ve been playing Principal/second in another regional orchestra and my friend was named runner-up for a ****** job than this regional orchestra we applied. Both rejected. Another colleague of mine recommended that we crash the audition. Does anyone have advice on doing this or has anyone done this before?
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AUDITION FORUM
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I would contact the personnel manager of the orchestra and ask them if they would let you take the audition anyway. There are, as -redacted- says often last minute cancellations, and there are openings that come up throughout the audition prelims, in my experience on committees. If it's a union orchestra, they can't turn you away. I would caution against just showing up, as this will put a lot of stress on an already stressed out PM, so if it's not a strictly 'by invitation' audition, then you should be able to go and take the audition in almost every case.
“Crashing” auditions is certainly something that’s been done for a long time. It can be helpful to get some sense of each orchestra’s audition policies, which are sometimes outlined in their CBAs or dictated by their local Union chapters.
I can’t recall ever hearing of someone being turned away when they crashed an audition. Usually there are at least a couple of no-shows at every audition and a few slots will open up, so it’s not much of an inconvenience to the personnel department anyway.
Good luck!