Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Motivators

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." ~ Vincent van Gogh

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Audition Blogs, Part One, Coda

So, nobody won.

Again, *sigh*

How does one deal with that info?  After the large number of auditions, all the amazing trumpet players that were turned away and a couple of great trumpeters in the finals, a winner still could not be chosen. Doesn't it just make you mad?

To me, the answer, as you could probably guess,  is no.

I don't know what factors lead to this decision.  Maybe the finalists played badly.  Maybe the conductor overruled the committee.  Again, who knows?  But I find it hard to get mad without the knowledge of really happened.

I repeat, though, it wasn't personal, it was business.

The bottom line is, that there will most likely be another opportunity to audition for the job, which is a good thing.  What's to be upset about?

As you're beginning to understand, I believe that auditions are not worth getting so worked up about.  Hard work is required, the ability to stay focused is important and a certain killer-instinct is necessary.  But beating yourself up over audition preparation or results is not helpful.  Yes, I've gotten angry with myself over how I might have played at an audition, but I've always been successful in letting it go and moving on to the next one.

That's because I never took it personally!  

You can only control ONE thing in auditions and that is.......................................

....................to be the topic in Part Two of The Audition Blogs!

See ya soon!

JM

Monday, June 6, 2011

"It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business." The Audition Blogs, Part One

I took an orchestral audition yesterday. I felt great about how I prepared. I had a great warm-up that morning. I feel like I played great in the actual audition.....

......I still didn't advance.

*sigh*

That's the way auditions are sometimes, though. This is not the first time I've felt great about how I performed on an audition and still didn't win or even advance. It is something that you just have to accept about the process of auditioning.

I'll admit, I was a little miffed for about 10 minutes after they announced the results. Who wouldn't be, especially after a good performance? But I remembered very soon after, while driving away, a line from my favorite movie, The Godfather; "It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business."

That's good food for thought for anyone taking auditions these days. When one doesn't make the cut, try to remember that line, because it's very true in the auditioning business. Audition committees have a very difficult job to do and they're just trying to find the best player on that day. If something about your playing is not quite up to the desired level, the audition is over for you.

But it's not a personal attack on you. To walk away mad at the committee, or the proctor, or the audition staff is, in my opinion, foolish. In most cases, everyone involved in the audition is rooting for everyone to play well. Speaking from experience, sitting on a committee and listening to bad audition after bad audition is a soul-squashing venture. An audition where the majority of players played well would be a dream!

So when things don't go your way, look inside first. Was it really that good of an audition? Did you achieve the things you wanted musically? Or did you just get all the right notes and rhythms? Was it in tune? There are a myriad of things that could be the cause for your dismissal. Thinking back to my audition yesterday, I really felt all the good things were there. But, I did miss, slightly, an entrance on one of the excerpts. Was that enough to get me cut? Maybe. But maybe I also didn't have the right sound for this orchestra. Or the right stylistic approach. Who knows?

But none of the reasons are personal. To take the results of an audition personally can be very deflating and just make the process all the more difficult. Frankly, when this happens to me, it fires me up for the next audition. I did the right things in preparation and application. There just wasn't a match between me and this particular committee. Someday I'll get another match. And it's gonna feel great!

I do a realistic assessment of what I did after each audition, regardless of the results. It IS possible to have a great experience and NOT win or advance. Conversely, it's possible to not play your best and still have a great result. I've experienced both and this audition was the former. I'm definitely on the right track with what I'm doing to prepare for the auditions. My knowledge of the required excerpts is clear and my faith in my own abilities is high. It's just a matter of time before something works out in my favor!

I'm going to walk away and forget this one. Dwelling on the negative is also a soul-squashing thing that only brings bitterness and resentment. And it sure is hard to be an artist when those are the dominating features of your attitude. I like to think of each undesired result as another chance to do even BETTER the next time around.

Besides, it wasn't a negative experience. All I did was not win the job, which puts me in the good company of several other fantastic players who were also at the audition. And you know what? It isn't so terrible.

More on that in Part Two of "The Audition Blogs."

Stay tuned!

Ok, I gotta go practice for the next audition!

JM

Thursday, June 2, 2011

ITG Recap!

Damn, that was fun!

I was going to do an in depth review of everything that happened at ITG, but, frankly, I don't have time to write that long, as I have several new opportunities to pursue.  More on that later.

Instead, I thought I'd write about what were the highlights for me:

1) Playing and hanging out again with the Tromba Mundi guys.  I can't begin to say how much I enjoy spending time with this great group of guys.  Thanks for including me in your ITG plans, guys!

2) The "ITG Gadget Tour" with Joey Tartell.  Joey, like me, is not into the all the gadget crap that is out there for trumpet players. For me there is NO substitution for actually practicing the trumpet. Most of the gadgets out there are a waste of money and time. This tour introduced me to some new stupidity, most notably, the Ombisure and the Vibrass (quite possibly the greatest name for a stupid trumpet gadget!). Thanks, Joey, for the good laughs!

3) Jouko Harjanne with the Minnesota Orchestra.  Holy crap, was this amazing!  Easily the best concert of the entire conference.  Jouko performed a Finnish concerto for trumpet that was, to say the least, pyrotechnic.  And he NAILED it!  I have never seen a better live solo performance, EVER!  To top off the concert, the MO then played Mahler 6.  Manny, Bob, Doug and Chuck sounded great!  What a great sections of players!

4)  Meeting Bob Dorer and Doug Carlsen.  It was a treat to meet to two gentlemen who share a legacy with me as Principal Trumpeters in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.  It was especially nice to chat with them about good times in the NMSO, given the recent horrific spell.  Here's hoping that, maybe, I'm the next trumpeter from the NMSO to move up in the orchestral world!

5) Ron and Avis Romm Recital.  Ron is one of my childhood heroes.  And every time I get to hear him play is a treat.  He and Avis play exquisitely together and I consider myself very lucky to be a colleague of his!

6)  Meeting Steve Shires.  I am a performing artist for Shires Trumpets.  But I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting Steve.  Finally, we met at ITG.  It is a pleasure to chat and play a bit for the guy who makes your horns.  I look forward to continued work with a master craftsman and playing his horns well into the future.

7) All the following concerts/clinics: Joe Burgstaller recital, Allen Vizzutti/Anthony DiLorenzo recital, the Marine Band Brass Quintet, JC Dobrzelewski clinic, Vladislav Lavrik recital, Evgeny Gurev recital, Minnesota Orchestra Trumpet section clinic and the Steve Wright Big Band with Marcus Printup, Marvin Stamm and Wayne Bergeron concert.  All of these were incredibly enjoyable and made me glad I went to the conference.

8) The impromptu high note clinic by Joey Tartell and Liesl Whitaker.  Liesl was trying out horns in the Shires room with Joey listening to provide feedback.  Listening to two masters of lead playing share tips and ideas was incredibly informative for me.  Plus, it was just cool to hear than many dubba Cs!

Finally, the best thing about the conference..........

Watching Tony Sadlon compete in the Solo Competition Finals.  Tony is my Graduate Assistant at the UNM and was one of three finalist in the competition. He ended up finishing 2nd in the competition.  But his placement matters not to me.  He worked incredibly hard on this performance and the journey he made to prepare for this competition made him a better, stronger player.  It was a very exciting moment for me to listen to him perform at a very high level in the finals.  Well done, Tony!  You did me, UNM and, most importantly, yourself proud!

I could go on and on about old friends met and the laughs had over beers, but it would take several more pages to properly express the fun that was had by all!

Thank you, Del Lyren, Steve Wright and ITG, for a fantastic conference!  I look forward to next years trip to Atlanta!

Now time for some peace and quiet! ;)

JM

Motivators

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best." ~ Duke Ellington