BBCSSO Audition…

I found out on tuesday that I have an audition for a place in the BBCSSO on Tues 13th March (exactly 2 weeks from when I was told about it – argh!!) I had originally sent in my CV asking whether I could audition for extra work, so I was initially quite surprised at being invited to audition for a full position, but I wasn’t going to turn down the audition as it’s good experience to do them and it’s good to get your face known… As it’s my first full audition I’m not expecting anything and I’m going to go with an open mind, and anything that comes of it is a bonus.

For those of you who don’t know how the whole process of getting a position in an orchestra works, then here’s a summary of what I understand goes on. You’ll see it’s very different to the normal ‘interview-then-get-the-job or-rejection-letter’ process; bear in mind, that at each stage of the process you may be rejected…

1. Send in your CV to the relevant orchestra manager/administrative person responsible for recruitment. This person will then hopefully pass your CV onto the relevant principal of your section.

2. Wait for a response; if no response, then phone up…

3. Hopefully, get an email/phonecall inviting you to audition

4. Audition and hopefully a) get accepted onto the extras list and/or b) (better) get invited to do a trial with the orchestra

5. If your trial is successful…You get the job!

Anyway, wish me luck – I know I’ll be pretty nervous on the day!

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Top things this week

-Seeing my friend Rachel Spencer perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in their Masterclass session at the City Halls. Also performing were Graeme Brown, bassoon, Glynn Forrest, marimba, and Jonathan Wettermark, trombone.

-Working on the Walton in collaboration with my teacher (Jane Atkins) and my accompanist for the competition (Scott Mitchell) to develop my own version of bowings, fingerings, tempos and phrasings

-Hearing about community music projects ‘The Big Noise’ (based in Raploch, Stirling) and ‘Givin’ It Laldie’ (based in the Gorbals, Glasgow) at the Music Learning Live conference – amazing work and very inspirational! The best part of both talks was seeing the children from both projects perform – the enthusiasm and dedication of these young kids is wonderful to see. In the Big Noise after school orchestra, the children are aged from 7 to 11. When I asked the leader of the orchestra what she wanted to do in the future she said without hesitation, ‘I want to be a hairdresser and a violinist, at the same time!’ After the presentation, I talked to one of the staff members and she said that I could arrange to visit the project sometime, which I will definitely try and do.