February 22 2009
Some possible audition works per instrument
Saxophone
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Maslanka Sonata
Tomasi Concerto
Ryo Noda’s Mai
Maslanka is DIFFICULT but I need to kick my saxophone butt around. I’ve done the Tomasi before but it is such a great work. The other option would be to do the Desenclos instead but I have already done that work several times as well. I’ve done the Mai for auditions once but never really performed it so I am thinking it would be great to pull back out and I need something contemporary anyway. I don’t want to overdue it but saxophone is my main horn so I should really show some serious chops by playing serious literature.
Clarinet
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Mozart (of course)
Brahms Trio/Quintet [not sure which...perhaps i should stick with the sonatas]
Rozsa Sonatina
Finzi 5 Bagatelles (or the Finzi concerto)
Clarinet is my strongest double but not by much anymore. Any day now my oboe playing will surpass my clarinet playing and I think that is a good thing. Besides, clarinet and saxophone are so similar I actually find it easier to focus on oboe/sax as it is a bit easier to make the switch back to back (for me). I think this is a really strong solo music program and picking the right excerpts to go with it should show I am a well rounded and accomplished clarinetist, not just a “doubler.”
Oboe
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Mozart (of course)
Malcolm Arnold Sonatina or Saint Saens Sonata (one or the other)
Vivaldi Concerto (maybe Marcello but is that too standard for grad school?)
Britten 6 metamorphosis (is that too standard for grad school?)
Well this is my heart and soul and I hope one day to be a primary oboist with saxophone as my secondary and the rest on the side for lessons or musicals (although I’m mostly into doubling for teaching because I just LOVE doing it). I want to have a balanced program to show I am a capable player but I also want to show what I can do well. No one cares that I have only been playing oboe for 3 years. They care if i’m in tune, have a nice sound, play the right rhythms, and generally act like I know what the heck i’m doing. The arnold is not as standard but it is my favorite work for oboe and piano.
Flute
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Mozart (of course…and G major is the only option
)
Bach Sonata E major
Faure Fantasie or Poulenc Sonata (one or the other)
Bolling Suite for Jazz trio (not really standard but I really love this work…i probably shouldn’t)
The bach and faure are works I know pretty well and just need a lot of refinement. the poulenc I do not know at all but I love. The double tonguing will be tricky but I have plenty of time to do it. The bolling is really awesome to listen to but is it audition appropriate? I’ll have to sleep on it.
Bassoon
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Mozart (of course)
Galliard Sonata (i am thinking 3)
Hindemith Sonata
My bassoon chops are not so strong so I’d be stretching it to try anything else and the mozart is honestly a bit of a challenge at this point anyway.
Well thats what is going on in my head. I’m not planning to audition for a while but I really like to plan ahead. Besides… my goal is to walk into my DMA ahead of where they expect me so that I am spending most of my time on artistry… not catching up! There is that whole research thing too. And my idea for the DMA is to get a professorship anyway so I better be the creme of the crop… not just a decent player. Jobs are not so easy to get these days… even if you are a multi-winds player. Instead of hiring one person to take two studios now it seems people are just not hiring! At least finding beginning students has not been impossible.