LA Phil Audition: Principal Horn Audition -- In Review

The audition committee was not screwing around. They clearly wanted nothing less than a world-class performer. Clearly, then, one was not to be found in the first audition for the principal horn, held on October fourth through sixth of this year. There was no winner.


I do not know how many individuals applied for the audition, but I do know that only thirty actually took the audition. Apparently, almost every resume was rejected. Of the thirty that played a first-round, two (I have been told) were invited to play a second-round audition. Neither of these candidates was advanced to the final round, therefore, only the acting-principal (I cannot at the moment discover his name) played a final-round audition. He was offered a (second consecutive) one-year contract, instead of the winner’s open-ended contract.


This may be a recurring West Coast theme: grandfathering-in players to high-profile positions, instead of leaving the job open to the chances of auditions. On the other hand, things may have been far less scripted. The candidates may have simply under whelmed the audition committee; as far as I know there weren’t any superstars of the horn world in the running. Either way, that means that there will, in all likelihood, be LA Philharmonic Principal Horn Audition, Round II in one year’s time. I plan to be even more ready for this one than I was the first time around, and it will be fun getting there

**Edit**

Just for the record, the orchestra did hold a second audition which was invite-only. The winner was Erik Ralske, of the New York Philharmoinc. It was clear he would win from the first round of this audition, when an audition committee person remarked that he "sounded really great" (coming from this person, this was a great compliment). In a twist of fate befitting the professional orchestral musician world, the LA Phil made their chosen player wait so long before offering a final contract that he was able to take another audition and win it too. This latest orchestra position happens to be the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the highest paid orchestra in the country. It's also in New York, of course. Ralske accepted his contract with the Met, and LA Phil is once again holding a pricipal horn audition.

Looking back on it, I really think the suggestions I heard that folks were being grandfathered in are way overblown. This might be happening in smaller / regional orchestras, but in light of the cost of holding an audition, major organizations are simply being very careful about their selections.

First thing to do after I graduate? Read!

While a student I barely managed to read anything. Even weekly readings for classes were a chore. I think the amount of rehearsals that persisted for ten years was to blame. After all, who wants to concentrate with all their might on reading (the norm for dyslexics) after having weighed tone, pitch, volume, and character for 8 hours.

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, then, at my achievements since finishing school this May. I have read more in four months than I had previously read in a year. Here's a list of the things I've finished so far...

Barack Obama The Audacity of Hope
Larry J. Sabato A More Perfect Constitution
Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five
Thomas Mann The Magic Mountain
Stephen R. Covey Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

LA Phil Audition: Principal Horn (Updated)

This evening I played my first round audition for the Principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As there are first rounds again tomorrow, I will not post the music requested at this time, and will simply say "excerpt one," etc.

I was well prepared for the day. All the training that you are led through really pays off under high pressure situations. Most useful to me, I believe, was Don Greene's audition techniques. Also, Robin Graham's advice to simply "Hit the first note," and let the rest of the excerpt take care of itself was huge.

The audition took place on the stage at Disney Hall, a stage I have performed on several times through CalArts. I even had the chance to play a bit by myself back during the "Slim And Beaten Dreamers" performance. When I played my test notes, therefore, I was familiar with the sound that I got back from the hall. The audition would be over in less than three minutes.

I began with the first excerpt, and nailed it. Halfway through I almost lost concentration, as I had a fleeting observation that "Wow, screwing up right now would be really bad." After putting this tangent in its place, I regained focus on the task at hand. Robin had told me of her experience in auditions, where she was able to enjoy her sound, and the process. I managed this for the last twenty seconds of the excerpt. It was great. No pressure. No nervousness. I was able to concentrate on hearing the whole piece being played around the piece I was playing.

I took perhaps ten seconds between excerpts one and two. Two began well, but my bit of nervous breathing struck soon after. I struggled with one and a half or two seconds of the excerpt, then was back on track. The end was just as good as the beginning. While I was getting the pitch of the next excerpt in my head, the proctor said "Thank you, that will be all." I knew that the jury had heard something to let them know right away whether or not to advance me. Alas, they didn't.

No one in my group advanced, in fact, a group of about fifteen people. I hope they all had as good experience as I did, but that I cannot know. On the whole, I think that there must have been many factors besides whether or not I nailed the rhythms and intonation, which I did, that determined one's advancement to the second round.

I can imagine several of these other factors, such as color, I play with a much brighter sound than the current section, and time / volume of applicants. I'm sure there are others. Then again, maybe I just need to keep on the ball and hit the excerpts for the next year, in order to be in top shape when auditions come up, and not have to work like crazy for four months.

***Edit***

The first round of the audition is over, so I can post the excerpts. The first round list for the audition was posted in the warmup rooms. It was as follows.

Brahms 3
Beethoven 7
Brahms 1 Mvt IV
Stravinsky Fairy's Kiss
Ein Heldenleben (opening through 1)
Schoenberg Chamber Symphony 1 (63 - 71)

Ramp up Part II : WotLK (aka "Sidetrack 1.0)

In an effort to keep me from being productive, Blizzard has decided to release the new class talents for the "Wrath of the Litch King" expansion to WoW. I suppose I will have to do a bit more listening to the music than I had planned, and a bit less reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

My main interest here is in their changes to the Priest's Shadow abilities. A Shadow priest has been fun, albeit frustrating, to play in pvp for the last year; the shadowpriest can't prevent taking damage in any real way. Blizzard is trying to fix this in today's patch. It remains to be seen whether they have really addressed the issue by balancing the shadow build with other classes' abilities, or if they have tweaked the others too much (Blizzard is introducing three to five new abilities in each class's three talent tree), in effect placing one class at a clear disadvantage in pvp.

LA Phil Ramp up

One week from today I will take an audition for the principal horn position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In the vein of everything else that I've done this year, the first audition I have taken. I'm pretty excited about it. I am very interested to see whether or not I will get nervous on the day that I audition. I get nervous now and then during large ensemble performances, but never during solo projects. This evening, while running through a visualization of the event, I did get nervous. Maybe the fact that I play recitals and solos in my mind several times before the actual event is enough to prevent any debilitating nervous shaking, or perhaps worse, erratic breathing.

Anyway, it's coming up fast. I've been putting in five to seven hours of preparation per day for the last month. In this late hour I still have excerpts that I cannot play as I would like, something that will be corrected before Thursday.

Mantra : "Eat, Practice, Sleep" (in reference to Phelps's daily experience).

The Judge

Recital program notes

*watch online at http://music.calarts.edu/rod.html*


Jody Hurt May, 14th, 11pm
MFA Graduation Recital Roy O. Disney Hall




The Judge Robert Allaire


Tierkreis Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007)

I. Aquarius
II. Pisces
VI. Cancer
VIII. Virgo
IX. Libra
XII. Capricorn


Short Pause



Trio in E flat Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

I. Andante
II. Scherzo
III. Adagio mesto
IV. Rondo

Luke Fitzpatrick, violin; Mark Menzies*, piano

*Calarts Faculty Member


Translations______________________________________________________________


The Judge

From Psalm 42

Quare tristis es, anima mea? Why art thou sad, O my soul?

Et quare conturbas me? And why dost thou disquiet me?

Quia tu es Deus fortitudo mea: For thou art God my strength:
quare me reulisti? why hast thou cast me off?

Iudica me. Judge me.


Tierkreis

I. Wasserman - Aquarius

Wassermann Aquarius luftig geistig Bearer of water, Aquarius airy spirit
Hell und sharf und klar in die Ferne bright sharp and clear reaching
Dringend, forschend; blitzesschnell for the distant, delving; lightning fast
Wechselnd; hoffend, vereint changing; hopeful, unites
In Brüderlichkeit. in peaceful brotherhood.

Aquarius, Wintergeist bewegt Aquarius, feel of winter influenced
Durch Uranus Saturn kühn by Uranus Saturn bold discovering,
Erfindend, Janus gleich sees through past
Vergangenheit, Zukunft durchschauend, through the future like Janus,
Okkult; sucht Freundschaft, Freiheit. occult; seeks friendship, freedom.

II. Fische - Pisces

Pisces zwei Fische in Bewegung Pisces two fishes in movement
Planten Jupiter Neptun wasserweich planets Jupiter Neptune water softly
Anschmiegend fromlos vorwärts clinging formless foreward
Rükwärts unentschieden zerfliessend backward undecided dissolving
hingebungsvoll Sanft und gütig plötzlich devoted gentle and kind
Eigensinn, Intuition Träume Weisheit sudden willfulness,
Kindlichkeit. intuition dreams wisdom innocence

VI. Krebs – Cancer

Cancer Cancer Wasser Mond Cancer cancer water moon
Weib und Frau Mittag Südliche woman and wife midday southern
Sonnenglut Quellbäche Ströme Meer glowing sun spring-brook flowing stream
Und Wellen Sommer blüte innerlich, sea and ebb and flow summer blossom
Empfindsam träumrisch zart krebs innerly, tender dreamy fine crab

VIII. Jungfrau – Virgo


Virgo Jungfrau Merkur Spätsommer Virgo virgin Mercury clear late summer
Reife Kulgheit Vorsicht Kühle mellow sensible cautious and aloof
Gewissenhaft hilfsbereit conscientious, serving, modest

Virgo Jungfrau erdhaft ordnend Virgo earthy ordering
Schönheit des Denkens der beauty of thinking,
Vernunft und Simmetrie reason and of symmetry
Du goldener Mittelweg you golden middle-way

IX. Waage – Libra

Libra Waage Luft Winde Venus Libra balance air winds Venus
Freund Geliebte West Abend friend beloved lover west evening
Herbstfrucht lieblich harmonisch autumn ripened fruit lovely harmonious
Ausgleichend tanzend peaceful dancing
weigend verleibt swaying in love

XII. Steinbock – Capricorn

Capricornus Steinbock mit Saturn, Capricornus sea-goat with Saturn,
Erde Mensch aus Erde, Mann; Earth son of Earth, the man;
Nacht, ich Winternacht zeig das night, I winter-night show the
Himmelsfirmament Sternenzelt. Heaven’s firmament starry tent.
Same, verschlossen langsam Seed, withdrawn, slow tenacious,
Unaufhaltsam zäh, stetig steadily climbing heights;
Kletternd zur Höh; stur und starr, stubborn stiff,
Strebend zum Licht, Sohn der striving for light, son of
Ursonne Sirius. Mother-sun Sirius.


Commentary and Notes_________________________________________


My mid-residency recital was not unlike many others in its since of exploration. With guidelines for neither repertoire nor form, I did just about everything that I could do at the time. Several weeks later I learned just how far ‘out’ I had gone. I was riding with my long-time friend Jonah to a party when I asked him what he thought of the event. Jonah, a Louisville native, had been in attendance for my undergraduate recital, and therefore was in a unique position to give insight on what I was doing at Calarts. He simply replied that it was “much more contemporary than (my) last one.”
Jonah isn’t musically illiterate. Neither is he a scholar of music; he is an actor. Something about his statement piqued my interest though. He had spoken enthusiastically about the last program he had seen (which was grounded in the traditional music that inheres in western schools of music programs). For some time I pondered the whys and wherefores of musical experimentation, audience entertainment, and audience understanding. During this period of musing I realized that Jonah’s comments following my undergraduate recital weren’t about the music that I had played. Rather, they spoke of the connection that I had to the music. My performances during the mid-residency recital, while being drawn from my disparate musical interests, did not have the personal connection that had been so apparent during my undergraduate recital.
It is to this end that I present this evening’s recital: a program of music representing my past, present, and future.
For me, this means an experiment in voice. I have always had a profound interest in voices, both human and otherwise. Tonight’s program begins with a pair of voices speaking in turn (a new work for the catalogue of French horn pieces) followed by four voices working together in various pairs (a song cycle for voice and sustaining instrument), and finally three voices in the setting of the high-romantic era (French horn, violin, and piano.
Bob Allaire’s new work for horn and voice, The Judge, represents my future. During my time at Calarts I have developed a passion for commissioning new pieces for the French horn. Moreover, I enjoy receiving pieces that are written for me, not just for A French horn player. Due to the favourable ratio of horn players to horn positions in orchestras across the globe, there have been few pioneers in the realm of contemporary solo literature. I would like to work to expand this repertoire by continuing to work closely with composers to produce works that are not just solo pieces, but French horn pieces.
Bob writes about his work,

“Originally, this piece was going to be titled Duality. It is a convergence of different sound worlds inspired by Jody’s unique combination of skill with both the horn and voice. It is simultaneously a call and a cry – an answer and a question. At the midpoint of the piece is a request, or perhaps a challenge. The text is excerpted from Psalm 42.”

I relate my present by performing Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Tierkreis. The piece is a collection of melodies, one for each sign of the zodiac. Each sign has its own tempo marking and its own key (perhaps this last point is why Stockhausen neglected to set the thirteenth sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus, as there are only twelve distinct pitches in the traditional western system of tonality). The composer instructs the performer to begin a performance with the sign that the performance takes place in. After performing all twelve movements in chronologic order, the performer repeats the “proper” melody. I will not be following the composer’s wishes exactly, I must admit.
The MFA program in music is a two-year program. By the end of the third term I had already fulfilled my graduation requirements (save this recital). It was around this time that my mentor, Ed Carroll, suggested the possibility of me staying on for a third year, for, there was one thing that I had wanted to do that had, to date, been impossible. Because of the way the National Association of Schools of Music defined private lessons (as either your major, or a minor), I had, for nine years, been refused private lessons for anything over thirty minutes. So, I accepted the offer to return for a third year, knowing that I would get to study voice as a major. This has truly been one of the highlights of my time at Calarts. I have decided to perform half of the movements of Tierkreis, due to the amount of time that I have spent working on technique.
The last section of the program represents at once my past and future. The Brahms “Horn Trio” is the first piece that performed with a chamber ensemble. This early experience at the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts also figures in the sort of arts collaboration that inspired me to attend Calarts. As this piece is one of the few works with a French horn that is not only good horn music, but rather just good music, I am hopeful to be a part of many more performances in years to come.
The Trio is comprised of three distinct voices: the violin, piano, and horn. These are the instruments that Brahms played as a child. There is no declaration of why Brahms wrote this trio, but there are hints. In the year following his mother’s death, Brahms wrote only two pieces: A German Requiem, and the Horn Trio. Perhaps the very instrumentation, which calls back to his past, is a tribute to his childhood, and by extension, his mother.



I would like to thank the Calarts community. You have been my source of inspiration over the last three years.

To my professors, for showing me new ways of thinking,
To the vocal staff, and Paul Berkolds especially, for taking on a rogue student,
To Danny Katzen, for teaching although it meant giving up time at home,
To Robin Graham, for really getting it,
To Mark Menzies, for his understanding and wisdom imparted,
To Ed and Jim, for being great leaders of the program,
And to everyone that I have had the pleasure of arguing and / or playing with,

Thank you.