by Inman Hebert
A Constructive Approach to College Auditions
Horn students will be facing the college audition period over the next few months. Whether applying to undergraduate or graduate schools, auditions are crucial to the next step in a student’s education. Concern over this can cause stress. For horn students stressed about the upcoming audition season, learning to trust your preparation and your ability can ensure a successful series of auditions.
Going into auditions with the right mindset can help alleviate stress. Many students feel as if college professors expect them to be perfect. Because of this, some go into auditions focusing on hiding their weaknesses. As much as we wish our weaknesses could disappear, focusing on them during an audition scenario is counterproductive. Often, by thinking about what we want to avoid, we make the very mistakes we dread.
So, what should auditionees think about? Focusing on being ourselves is a much more productive mindset. Every horn player has strong suits, from specific registers on the horn to technical facility to musicality. In an audition, we should ensure that professors hear the strengths in our playing rather than worrying about our weaknesses. Approaching an audition with that mindset enables a player to perform with more confidence and offers professors a more accurate portrayal of who we are as a player.
While audition expectations vary, many professors do not expect their prospective students to be polished. After all, the whole point of being a horn student is to focus on improvement. In an audition, by showing off one’s strengths on the horn, professors can hear an auditionee’s potential, which is far more important than their present overall skill level.
While college auditions can be stressful, the best way to navigate them, as difficult as this may seem, is for students to be themselves. In doing so, students play with a confidence which illuminates their strengths, giving professors an accurate representation of who they are as musicians and whether or not a student would be a good fit in their studio. Even if the answer is no, students can be assured that they are being accepted into environments that will most support their improvement. By being ourselves in the college audition process, we put ourselves in the best position to achieve our potential.
