March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16 we held twelve hours of Timpani / Percussion auditions and I am happy to say that I survived. Maya and I started the day at 7:30 to set up and we actually had the first candidate arrive at 8:00am, an hour and a half before their audition time. This was fine because I had thought this would set us up for a very smooth day. What I did not factor in however was how long it took to move each set (4) of timpani in and out of the audition room.
See, with most auditions everyone brings their very portable instrument so that they can walk in, briefly tune and play the requested excerpts. For the timpani audition we had timpani, xylophone, marimba, bells, and snare. The only portable instrument on that list was the snare and about half the candidates brought their own timpani. LACO does not own their own percussion instruments like some of the larger orchestras so a number of the candidates decided to bring their own. This meant moving the instruments that we had rented out of the way to bring theirs in. During the 6 hour preliminary round I learned a number of things:
1. Timpani are heavier than you think they should be
2. Not all timpani have wheels
3. There is a European style of playing in which the drums are flipped to be in the opposite order.
I had no idea that this was case as I am a bassoonist and play one of those portable instruments.
Then in the final round which ended up starting at 4:15 we set up 4 sets of timpani in Mayman Hall with all the other equipment. Check out the pictures because I do not think that anyone has ever seen that much shiny copper in one place.
Overall the day went quite smoothly ending around 7:00pm and I would like to publicly thank all those percussionists out there who helped me figure out how to organize the controlled chaos of percussion auditions. To help you get an idea of the chaos, you can check out the pictures of the many percussion cases lining the walls of Zipper Hall on flickr. There will be more pictures coming soon, so keep checking back!
And finally, congratulations to Wade Culbreath, the new official principal timpani/percussion of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
8 comments
Sounds like these auditions put a new, more literal meaning to having a "moving" musical experience!
Had I known that you had 4 finalists going straight to the final round without the preliminary, I wouldn't have tried out. That was kinda waste of my time & money I guess.
According to the audition policy stated in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Master Agreement with Local 47; the Music Director and audition committee, can jointly advance a candidate to the final round.
The audition committee hears all other audition participants to help determine if there are additional individuals qualified to appear in the final round.
Best of luck to you in your future endeavors.
Thanks To Jimmie @jimmiebr for posting a great blog post post about Amy's blog!
We will definitely have Wade work on the spinning sticks for the final concert! :)
I am pleased to read about Wade Culbreath. I went to FSU with his Dad, Charlie Culbreath, and there is no doubt where his musicianship came from. CC is one the the best sax players ever, and I can imagine that Wade is one of the best Percussionists ever.
All the best to you, Wade.
It is really a nice and informative site.
Lisa11
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We all know that 'prelims' are ... to possibly 'advance' some 'unknown' into the final round. With that being said, many felt the perc/timp aud. began with the final round.
It is truly unfortunate that in this time and age that a group such as yours cannot say to the union. "We have 5 player's whom we are interested in and will most likely hire one of them". Therefore other's could be informed to spend the time and money should they wish.
This way the intent is known ahead of time.
Until the union will let organizations state their real intent, auditions will continue to be no more than 'an experience' with a high travel and hotel expense.
Who is the union really representing these days?
Congrats to Wayne...a very deserving lad.