Wow this week has been busy! I feel like I’m back in school…well, minus the homework. I started rehearsals again with the Virginia Wind Symphony, had craziness and gigs galore at work, and to top it all off I had my audition with the principal clarinetist of the Virginia Symphony, Patti Carlson. The highlight of the week was definitely the audition! It took place at her house, which was nice…I have found that auditions at people’s houses tend to be less stress-y. My navy audition took place at someone’s house (see my previous post about it), and that had a great outcome, obviously. Anyway, I was actually not that nervous for this audition, I kind of approached it like it was a lesson, and that’s seemed to put less pressure on me. She was super nice, and actually thanked me for coming out and playing for her.
For the actual audition, I played the Mozart exposition, and considering how little I had practiced it (I kept forgetting to bring the music with me to work) I played it really really well. Then we started with the excerpts – I had told her I had prepared the “standard fare” and whipped out my Hadcock book. Started with Brahms 3…including some parts in the first movement which I had not been practicing. It went fine though, she asked for the A clarinet solos, which I had done before and aren’t that crazy. Then I played some Beethoven 6…1st movement of course…2nd movement…then she turned to the 3rd movement, the scherzo! Ack! I think she sensed my deer in headlights feeling, but I played it anyway. I played it through once, and then she coached me a little on it, and I played it again and nailed it! I think that showed her a lot more than just playing it right the first time. I played some more stuff on the list that I had established in my last post, including Beethoven 8, Mendelssohn scherzo, RK Capriccio, & RK Scherezade. Pretty much nailed all of it!
So I’m now on the Virginia Symphony sub list, officially! It feels good to know that I played well enough at the audition that she trusted I could do the job of playing in a professional orchestra. I’ve never had anyone show me that trust before! If so, I would have either won jobs, or been on more sub lists. This shows just how much I’ve improved since I’ve left school, and even since I’ve been in the Navy! Since I’ve left the college environment, I have done my best to make sure that I don’t take any steps backward in my playing. I think it has paid off! And it doesn’t hurt that I get to practice all day. I love this job!
Sandy Herrera, Clarinet 