European Auditions?

After 3 years spent living in Europe and applying near constantly, here's my experience so far. France - they have an open door policy for auditions. Anybody who applies will be heard on the prelim day at least. As an added bonus, the prelim round is always very short, about 5 minutes long, in order to circumvent the higher number of applicants. That's also why there's a "prelim day." The BIG downside (or upside depending on how you see it) is that they just love putting the most insane contemprary music on their lists. It's a good challenge if you're up for it, and I've definitely gotten a kick out of some of the chop busters I've shedded, but it is daunting.

Germany - It's slightly more difficult, owing to how precise the career pathway generally is. However, if you already have a position in a major european orchestra, or if you decide to go study in Germany for a time, this can be much more easily achieved. Not to mention that with the visa offer somebody mentioned above, it's actually quite a bit easier to start working in German orchestras and get to know the field. At the very least, the excerpt lists tend to be very standardized and you can bet that 90% of them will be almost identical, so you can reasonably take on quite a few of these at once.

Nordic countries invite everyone who passes a pre-screening round. Generally this is where a lot of the English speaking candidates go first. Makes sense, since English is usually their operating language. Repertoire is usually a mix of standards, some challenging standard etudes, and one or two excerpts from commissioned works by the orchestra. However, these lists are ENORMOUS in length.

Italy generally requires that you be an EU resident or, in the case of non-EU natives, be residing and legally able to work in Italy. Lists tend to be the same style as in Germany.

Spain is a total wildcard. Every orchestra will have strikingly different STRICT regulations for attending an audition. Some only require that you obtain a Spanish work permit before the mandated start date of the job, others require that you be an EU resident and show proof of Spanish proficiency. Some have been a bit more extreme, requiring that you submit official spanish translations of all diplomas obtained, as well as a B2 certification in the language and some even require that your degree curriculum contain all the same courses as the Spanish conservatories, with a year grace period to take those extra courses should you win the job. As with Italy, these lists tend to follow the German approach. Not sure about the Baltic/Slavic countries, and other countries such as Holland and Belgium depend hugely on the orchestra. I've been invited to auditions in LUxembourg but rejected from those in the Netherlands with the same CV. Generally in Europe they will not have a sizeable allowance in the operating budget to sponsor work visas so you will need to be an EU resident first. You may notice I didn't mention the UK (despite living her myself). They're a whole other can of worms and that's for another day, another time. I will briefly say that post-Brexit, it's really adviseable to aim for the contintent given how many more options you end up with. Hope this helps!

Each European country is quite different when it comes to applying for jobs as an American. I’ve worked in many different European countries….some are easy to get into, some almost impossible. Generally speaking, Scandinavian/Nordic countries tend to be the easiest to break into, while other countries are much more difficult. I’ve worked as a Guest Principal in a major German orchestra, and still am rejected for most German auditions I apply to. Better to ask about specific countries rather than “Europe” as a whole.

I can only speak for string players, but here are a few things I’ve learned as an American auditioning/working in Europe:

1) Most audition applications take place over the platform muvac. My understanding is that most orchestras treat this application as a resume round and narrow candidates down to between 10-30 candidates. It’a very hard to get invited to an audition if you have an American address on your profile as opposed to a European one. Once I had a European address I was invited to about half/two thirds of auditions I applied for as opposed to basically none when I was based in the US. This was with no European schooling or professional experience. You can also use the cover letter part of the application as an opportunity to explain your situation and increase your likelihood of invitation. 2) The first round is almost always the classical concerto, excerpts are not requested until semi-final or final rounds and lists are much shorter. It is essential to have a strong classical concerto or else you won’t get a chance to play anything else. There is a tendency for Europeans to find that Americans play this too romantically. Same with Solo Bach. 3) If you can’t/don’t want to go to school, orchestra academies are a great option to get started. It’s also definitely possible to get a job from an audition directly if you can get invited. 4) It’s not always guaranteed that people will speak English but it’s possible to get by, especially in Germany. 5) Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK have a lot of international/American musicians. Countries like Spain, Italy and sometimes France have more limitations for legal status before auditioning that make it harder to get there.

6) Berlin has an unofficial “artist visa” (just a freelance visa) with a very high acceptance rate to allow Americans to get legal status in Germany to work with very little proof of work possibilities (ex. two letters from ensembles saying they’re interested in working with you). You can read the details of how to get it here: https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/how-to-get-a-german-freelance-visa

100% for sure if someone from North America wants a job in Europe, the best way is to go study there. There are plenty of examples of people winning jobs outright, but far more examples of studying first and winning later. Every orchestra is different, and every panel is different. Most of the time, no matter where you are, it helps if you know what the panel is (generally) looking for! Also, as you've pointed out, there are simply very few internationally open auditions that are worth flying across the world to audition for. I think the day we put auditions in the cloud (until finals/trials) is the day that orchestras will see more international players. I've seen more orchestras in Asia, Australia, and Northern Europe doing this and finding more international level players/improving their organizations. Great question! I'm looking forward to seeing more replies.