But this 2nd horn audition is different...and it feels different to me. First of all, the 2nd horn chair is a low horn chair, which has been my speciality. Even hornist knows that 2nd horn parts tend be written quite high sometimes, so obviously a 2nd hornist needs a good high range...but not as good as a 1st or 3rd players, I'd imagine...and I know the audition list isn't going to call for as many high horn excerpts. Of course it won't.
Another thing is that I'm not nearly as busy as I was the last time I auditioned. I have a lot more time to prepare, being a stay-at-home dad and free-lance musician. I'm only out of the house working for about 15 hours a week (of course, making more income than working full-time in my previous retail jobs). But I digress. Sorry. The point is a have adequate time every day to prepare for this audition. And I know that I'm an older and more mature musician than I was before.
So, of course, I'm applying for this audition. I sent in my resume yesterday, and should be receiving the letter soon that says I need to partake in a prescreening round, meaning I will need to record myself playing excerpts and send a CD in to them.
So this is very exciting. There's a potential to have quite a great life suddenly, with the winning of this audition. Here's the problem: That's what 500+ other hornists in the world are thinking.
While I was getting my Master's at UW-Milwaukee, I realized something: getting a full-time playing job in this country is very, very hard. For one, the competition is a fierce as ever. There are thousands of a great hornists out there. The big thing, though, is the audition committees are looking for absolute perfection when hearing candidates--something that I'm nowhere close to being. The guys and girls winning these auditions never miss a not, play every single note as beautifully as possible, and playing musically perfect, among many other things. I know I'm a skilled musician and a pretty good player, but I don't have the technical capacity to match these hornists that have the time to practice 5+ hours a day.
So, why am I taking this audition, you ask? Because it's fun. And maybe I'll get lucky. And, of course, it is good experience for me, and it gets more people to hear me play. It also gives me a huge goal to try and reach, and I feel this audition will be the biggest test of my musical career.
So...wish me luck.
I'll post updates on my preparation and the timetable for the audition as time leads up to it.
Take care and value music.