I hear very little about North American musicians auditioning abroad (apart from very high profile wins). Understandibly it might be cost prohibitive to even attempt it, but for people willing/hoping to emigrate, is it even possible? Would the best way be to go to school in Europe, get into an orchestra academy, and then audition from there? I’ve also heard there are differences in criteria (thinking shorter excerpt lists and more standard concerto rep), but I’m wondering if that reflects differences in what committees are looking for in a player.
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AUDITION FORUM
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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!