« Fabulous! Festival news | Home | Pondering plaid? »

Auditions

By Meg | August 28, 2007

First impressions aren’t always about what you wear. Yesterday afternoon, I was on campus when my friend and I crossed paths with the college’s jazz band director. Well, she practically volunteered me for the band while I was saying, “Oh no! I have hardly played since 2001! I’m so rusty!”. Furthermore, he needed an alto sax player. I have an alto, but I’ve hardly ever played it since tenor sax has been my principal instrument. “Rusty or not, come a little before class tomorrow and play something for me!” he replied. How could I say no?

Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. My husband assured me, “Of course you’ll make it.” To be honest, I wasn’t worried about getting into the band. I knew that I still had ‘the chops’ to get in. However, I also knew that this informal audition would be my first impression musically on him and other band members. It wasn’t enough for me to just get in. I wanted to ‘wow’ and I had to play a ‘wow’ song. So, I dug out my college audition piece from 2001 and worked on it for about 4 hours last night, despite the fact that I knew that there were easier pieces that I could play with less work. The song I chose was Au Privave, an ultra-fast bebop tune by Charlie Parker - and I played it ultra-fast, too.

Putting in the extra worked. I’m now playing 1st alto! (For the non-bandies, that’s the lead sax part.) Despite the fact that yesterday morning I had no interest in joining the band, I’m really excited by the idea of playing this semester and maybe in the semesters to come.

Of course, what you wear at an audition is still important. While you should dress in something comfortable, you should definitely not show up under-dressed, sloppily dressed, or dressed in anything too revealing. Think of an audition like a job interview. While you don’t have to dress in a suit for most auditions (and probably shouldn’t unless you want to look stiff and feel uncomfortable), you should dress in a way that shows that you would represent the group well. Think business casual, but don’t be afraid to throw in some creative twists. Also, take into consideration the style of the group. You should show less skin if you’re auditioning at a conservative school than if you’re auditioning with a local rock band.

I dress up a bit on a regular basis, but in case you’re wondering, today’s outfit was a black with white polka dots knee-length skirt, bright blue blouse, and white ballet flats. I kept my jewelry simple - just purple dangly pearl earrings and my wedding band - so that nothing would interfere with my playing. I also skipped the lip gloss to keep it off my reed and mouthpiece. My tote today was a New Orleans jazz tote, though inside was a metallic purple clutch. When I auditioned for a private university several years ago I wore a long plaid skirt, a white short-sleeved knit top, a pair of simple black heels, and panty hose. It was a rather conservative, preppy outfit, but then so is the school. The male director even mentioned that I seemed to fit in very well. Though I didn’t end up attending school there, I was offered a wonderful scholarship that was hard to turn down. While I’m sure that was based mostly on my playing, I can’t help but wonder how things would have been different had I showed up in torn jeans, and a midriff shirt.


Tags: , , , ,

Related Posts:

Comments