The gory audition details. Zzzzzzzz.

Here it is, it's boring:

The audition went well. I think it was the calmest, most accurate audition I have played to date. The first round was fine, except a small glitch in the Shostakovich and I was happy to be asked to play that again. I used to always ask the moderator if I could repeat stuff (it's behind a screen so you can't talk or see the actual committee) but have learned that it's not the best plan. Half the time they didn't hear the original error and it just annoys them to listen twice. But this conductor asked for exactly what I wanted to re-do anyway and I made it to the finals.

The finals were fun. There were only 3 of us- the chick who had been doing the job- I'll call her K, and the chick who had been sitting second chair- S who was very sweet and will also be at the audition on Sunday. The finals are not screened, so when I went out on the same stage I could now see the whole audience. There were at least 20 folks out there. You could tell the brass players by the way they were sitting on the backs of chairs or draping their arms over chairs next to them. When I first looked out it was like I had interrupted a wine tasting or something.

The finals went well, and then came what's always the worst part- having to wait for the results. So many backstages look the same- cement floors, drop ceiling. K played and then S and then they seemed to deliberate for what seemed like hours. In the meantime S told me that the audition was pretty much a formality- which I suspected. When the manager finally came down, he took K back to her dressing room to talk with her for a bit. Then he came out and told S they were offering her the chair she already had- 2nd, and that K had won the position she had already played last year.

He turned to me then, with the most apologetic look, and introduced himself. He said I played well but, "sometimes this is the way they have to do things." That is pretty much the most validation I've ever recieved from an audition that I haven't won, so I'll take it. They'll put me on the sub list. So, no tears, no cringing disappointment or lapses of concentration- just a straight-ahead audition. Here's hoping they go that way forever more.