Minnesota

Milwaukee had split prelims for their recent 4th horn audition. I've experienced split committees in Cincinnati, as well. At the recent Milwaukee audition, these were my biggest complaints:

• Candidates were not notified that it would be split committee

• Candidates were not notified which room they'd be in until the runner opened the door for us to take the "stage."

• Half of the candidates were in the concert hall, half were in the Atrium, which are not comparable acoustically. I felt this created an unfair advantage for those in the hall.

• The Atrium setup had candidates enter through double doors, and about 10 feet out there was a chair. The alcove with the double doors was extended with curtains, so candidates basically played in a curtained-off cubicle with sound going directly backwards into a double door alcove, basically a box. Candidates could not tell how large the space was, where the committee was, and had to compete with traffic noise seemingly right next to us. I assume this is what notabassplayer meant about the awkward makeshift tunnel. For horn players, that's especially problematic since our sound goes backwards.

I understand split committees allow orchestras to hear more people, and I support this. However, I think the rooms need to be comparable in order for it to be fair. It felt like half the prelim candidates were set up for failure, and half were set up for success.