Audition Horror Stories

I just got back from a great candidate for this type of horror story.

The audition anouncement told us that they would be scheduled over two days, but no specifics as to how these days would unfold. Given the number of applicants, a lot of the candidates presumed that the prelims would all happen on the first day. However, they then emailed us the night before that they intended to hold two sets of prelims each beginning at 10 am on subsequent days, dividing the candidates alphabetically. This was to get around a rehearsal for a concert held on the first day.

Come the day of the first audition, 40 or so of us shuffle into the room and play 10 minutes each. At around 2:30 pm there were about 6-7 candidates left to play, and the proctor came out to tell us that unfortunately they would risk running into the dress rehearsal and could the remaining candidates please come back tomorrow morning to be added to that group. As such, they told us the second round would start at 4 pm the next day. Evidently given many of our assumptions, we had booked travel back on the evening of the second day. On the second day they went overtime again, the second round beginning later than stipulated. Luckiky I was cut in the prelims so I didn’t miss my flight home. Some of us were not so lucky, they began the finals around the time of the last sets of flights out from the city, and the winner was determined at 11 pm local time.

While there were many assumptions that should have not been made on the part of the candidates, this is a clear example of lack of communication from the orchestra leading to a near disaster on the day for a number of the hopefuls.

During my audition for the Atlanta Symphony, the fire alarm went off five minutes before I had to play. They told everyone to freeze in place, then they said it was a false alarm. So I went on stage and played my first two snare drum excerpts. Then they stopped me because they could hear someone practicing Shostkovich 10 from one of the practice rooms. I stood on stage for 5 minutes before they let me start again. Very frustrating.

This website is primarily for orchestral audition conversations, so I'm guessing most forum members are not going to have any stories that are relatable to what you're describing. There are no casting directors in orchestras, for example. It's an entirely different process than a vocal or theater audition.

While auditioning certainly is a very difficult and often brutal process, it sounds like you may be a little too focused on the negative aspect of these experiences. Everyone has played bad auditions, but I'm not sure how constructive it would be to "hear everyone's worst experience in an audition." Instead, I try to view each audition as a learning experience - a milestone along my journey toward becoming a better musician. Hope this is helpful!