<p>S is a senior this year, and will be taking some professional auditions. I have a stupid question: If a miracle happens, and the stars are aligned, and he wins an audition, does he then have to decide on the spot and withdraw from any future auditions? Or does he get a few months to decide?</p>
<p>I realize that he will be lucky to even win one audition, and the chances of winning more than that are slim. But he may be auditioning for one later in the season that <em>I</em> really want for him, and has several others earlier, including one that <em>I</em> think is too far away. :) As you may judge by the **, he is not asking my advice. I just wondered.</p>
<p>I don't know for sure, but I think that typically if you take an orchestral audition you need to decide right away if you want the spot. If you back out once you've won, it gains you a negative reputation and it would more than likely endanger your ability to win future positions...orchestras don't want to hire someohe who isn't going to stay.</p>
<p>binx, I think alot depends on the position and how it's offered. Position announcements (auditions) are worded "beginning for the xxxx season," "immediately", "as soon as candidate is available", or "as mutually agreed". I have seen wordings combining some terms.</p>
<p>Cosmso' point has some validity, but it's pretty widely accepted that a winner may turn down an offered position for a number of valid reasons and still not get a bad rep. Costs of relocation, bad vibes, grad school plans, family & personal reasons often come into play. If a player starts to make a habit of it, or misleads a personnel manager, the bad rep can indeed become an issue.</p>
<p>My son is facing a similar dilema, as he has five auditions scheduled between
September and November. One is for a major orchestra and a long shot at best, but it would be an actual full time position at a nicely competitive salary.</p>
<p>The other four are for regional, fairly local orchestras, all per service positions, and one is a core principal.</p>
<p>How he fares may determine if, or where, he goes to grad school next fall. </p>
<p>It's important to take as many pro auditions as possible (often determined by costs related to travel, time off, etc.). You have to weigh the benefits of winning versus the costs in trying in reality.</p>
<p>binx wrote: "If a miracle happens, and the stars are aligned, and he wins an audition, does he then have to decide on the spot and withdraw from any future auditions? Or does he get a few months to decide?"</p>
<p>binx, I forgot to address this specifically. I'm going to assume that there's some negotiating flexibility if one wins a position, tempered with the timing of the initial announcement. In most employment scenarios, a candidate has a reasonable window to accept or reject the appointment. I'm of the mind that a two week decision window from the time of the offer is what I might personally (or suggest my own son) request.</p>
<p>It's going to get difficult if there's a substantial time difference between auditions, or if there are hotel/airline reservations in place for the later try-outs.</p>
<p>Frankly, what I'm hoping - though I would never say it to him - is that he advances past the first round (for confidence boosting purposes) but doesn't win this first audition. It has several strikes against it. Mainly that it is for a position for this year, rather than next. (I think, anyway. S isn't so sure. The posting didn't say one way or another, but since it is so early in the season, and the salaray quoted is for this year, I suspect it's an immediate position. He'd have to decide whether taking the job or finishing his degree was more important to him.)</p>
<p>However, the subsequent auditions are for higher level orchestras, and the chances of him winning one of them goes way down. I wish the order of the auditions was reversed.</p>
<p>The salary quoted is based on the current contract. Depending on the contract, there may or may not be an annual percentage increase, and the contract may not expire for a year or five.</p>
<p>I don't necessarily see that as a specific means of determining if the position is for the upcoming or following season.</p>
<p>Son just returned from his second pro (regional) orchestral audition, where he did not advance beyond the first round.</p>
<p>He was more successful at an earlier summer audition, where he actually was offered a sublist spot ranking third for two open positions.</p>
<p>We're in CT and blessed with a large number of exceptional local and regional orchestras in the Philly/Boston corridor offering a good share of audition opportunities "locally". The members lists comprise many former and (current) national major principal and orchestra players.</p>
<p>My son was not at all disappointed, he played his best, and was confident in his preparation. He's got two more auditions in September, and two more in November.</p>
<p>It can be a long road.</p>
<p>Afterthought: 14 of the 15 candidates were New York based musicians. Many were mid to late twenties. Son at 22 thought he was the youngest in the field.</p>
<p>It's also important to remember that virtually all orchestra auditions are for one year contracts. The player's contract is then extended after the first year if both the player and orchestra are happy. Even if your son wins an audition, it will certainly not be the last one he ever takes. If he goes and spends a year or two in a decent orchestra his chances with the bigger orchestras will be much better.</p>
<p>Thanks for the posts. Nice that we have company on this long road! </p>
<p>Violadad, your S's attitude sounds so much like my S's. My hope is that my S will be able to shake off disappointing auditions. I think he can, but this is unchartered territory. (Not the disappointing audition part - He's definitely had those! - just the level of the stakes.) He doesn't have quite as many auditions lined up at Violason, but still has planned a pretty intense year for himself. Along with professional auditions, he will probably apply to a couple grad schools, and has his senior recital. He seems to be very focused about the whole thing, which is not to say he seems tense in any way. Just very purposeful. He's known all along that senior year would be like this, so I think he is prepared mentally. But we're only at the beginnning.</p>
<p>I didn't know that, MS, about 1 year contracts. I did know that newbies generally have a probation period of some sort.</p>
<p>Another audition, out of state regional. Son said he was the only one of a field of six younger than 40. He played well, but did not get the call back. He was "more nervous" on this one than the previous two, but could not pin doen specifics. Actually music was not given to him until he was on stage, unlike the other 2 when he had it 20 minutes before.</p>
<p>Violinists for the next round were filing in to the hall as he was playing (he said there was a lack of warm up rooms).</p>
<p>In all, he felt this a fairly "cold" experience in comparison to the previous two.</p>
<p>S had first audition of the season yesterday. He did not advance, but felt it was a positive experience overall. He said he was not nervous, and was happy about that. He hopes it is a trend. (Was not nervous at his previous professional auditions, either. He gets very nervous at school auditions, for some reason.) He knew he did not play solidly, but said there were no surprises -- the things he had trouble with during the audition were the same things he felt needed more work when practicing.</p>
<p>He thought the audition was very well run. One of his friends (a year older) advanced, and he is thrilled for her. Another of his friends (his age) did not. He learned from others that some people were not even allowed to finish their audition - were cut off and dismissed early. So he was glad that he was allowed to finish. He said they asked him to repeat two of his excerpts - and his overall impression was that they were "rooting for him" to do well, and giving him every opportunity to do so, and that it is his own fault that he did not. He said it helps him know how to practice for the next audition.</p>
<p>The audition was blind, of course, at this preliminary stage. In addition, they had carpet down, so that the judges could not tell by footsteps whether it was a male or female. A member of the orchestra came out with him and sat in the corner on stage, and a member of the union sat in the auditorium to monitor proceedings. S liked that, because it gave him someone to "play to" - he likes having an audience. He said the whole audition was very professionally run.</p>
<p>Son was offered a full position chair in a regional (per service) professional orchestra yesterday. Top candidate in a small field for two openings.</p>
<p>Eight performances totaling 35 services, plus a travel allowance.</p>