Violist Matthew Jones, Head of Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, gives help and advice on how to prepare for an audition, and what you can expect on the day. We are very grateful to Matthew for sharing his knowledge and expertise!
It does not seem long ago that I was “the other side of the desk”, auditioning for postgraduate courses at Music Colleges and wondering what was expected, desired, considered important or required by the panel. Will it be a deal-breaker if I play a few notes out of tune? If I show signs of nerves? If my vibrato goes a bit out of control because of the adrenaline rush?
I have had the great privilege of sitting on the panel for viola auditions at the Guildhall School for a number of years, and the first thing that became clear was that we can see almost instantly what is the ‘core’ of someone’s playing, and what is due to nerves. If a considerable percentage of notes is out of tune, it’s a worry, but if the odd note here or there slips, and you demonstrate a good centre of pitch generally, it’s not a big deal. Of course, strive for perfection – but knowing that perfection will never be reached and you only make your life miserable by giving yourself a hard time if small imperfections are present in performance. If something is not perfectly together with the pianist you’re playing with, not a big deal providing you are demonstrating generally that you are aware of, and listening to, the piano part.
Remember at undergraduate level you are auditioning to START an intensive four-year process, not to enter a job. We want to see that you love music, love the viola, are musical and well-set up on the instrument. The last point needs clarification – if you come to study at the Guildhall in September, by the following June you will have gone through likely a technical overhaul, done a scales and study exam, and an end-of-year assessment including parts of a classical concerto, solo Bach, and an etude. We need to have an instinct that the trajectory you are on at the time of audition will allow this to be reachable without undue stress. For this reason, it is possible that you will be asked how long you have been working on a piece, or what you feel about where your playing is at, to better understand your speed and methods of learning.
It makes most sense to perform pieces that you know very well, that you enjoy playing, that are contrasting in some way, and that you have performed before. If you don’t have the chance to perform them in concerts, do at least two performances and/or mock auditions before the real audition. And not in the few days before the audition, but a few weeks before. Too early in the process and you’ll lose momentum, too late and you’ll panic about not having long enough to fix the things that went wrong in the play-throughs… Also good to get in the habit of recording yourself and listening back in an observant but non-judgmental way as part of your normal practice routine. And don’t underestimate the power of the imagination – when you’re doing a playthrough of a piece, imagine you are in the audition room… then ask friends to pretend to be the audition panel sometimes – building up the ‘audition immune system’. Most people who do multiple auditions feel much more comfortable with the last audition they do than the earlier ones, but you can simulate certain aspects of the audition room with surprising efficacy to make sure that the first one is already close to the best you can do.
There will usually be a conversation after the playing part of the audition, and this is an opportunity for you to ask questions as well as answer them. Compared to the time at which I auditioned for music colleges, information is very easy to find, so make sure you have done research about the institution you are applying for, know about some of the teachers you may be interested in, and ideally have had some consultation lessons already before you audition. This is important because the choice of teacher should determine where you go, not the institution. This person will provide the backbone of your studies and oversee the trajectory of your development, so be thorough in your research and have as many consultation lessons as is possible financially and logistically.
Lastly, don’t forget that a panel is an audience of human beings like any audience – just with some more specialised knowledge than most audiences you play to – we want to hear you make music, we want to be moved and transported by the music transmitted through you. And this will happen when you feel very securely prepared with the pieces you are playing, have performed them a few times at least, are in the best possible frame of mind, and are enjoying sharing the music with this audience.
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