I have been invited to audition for an orchestra in which a former teacher plays. I have asked him to give me a lesson before the audition, and he agreed (he is asst. principal and would be on the audition committee). Now I feel that perhaps it might be considered unethical? Because he is a former teacher, and a great violist, I would like to have his input, and I respect his opinion. However, I do not want to do something that may seem wrong. Is it okay to have a lesson with a member of an orchestra you are auditioning for? Thanks for your input!

Nora

We have a rule that prohibits anyone sitting on a committee to hear any prospective candidates up to 6 weeks before the audition. Other orchestras may not have this spelled out - and leave it up to the discretion of the members of the orchestra/committee.

It is certainly a great idea to play for a member of the orchestra where you are auditioning - especially if that person is a former teacher of yours who you respect a lot. If you have already asked and he has agreed, I'd go with that and let any fallout be on him rather than you.

Good luck!
gloria

Get all the help you can!

A former teacher of mine handled it this way: if he agreed to help a student prepare to audition for his orchestra, he would also help anyone else who asked; and if the student made it far enough to get talked about, he would offer to recuse himself from the discussion.

Our orchestra doesn't have any firm policy on this, and I know that different members feel very differently about it. I've always tried to handle it in much the way Joel described. I will agree to hear any prospective candidate who contacts me, but if the candidate advances, I always disclose to the rest of the committee that I heard them in advance, and I try very hard not to let anything but what I heard on the day of the audition affect my judgment.

I guess my basic feeling is that I'm in favor of auditioning candidates making an extra effort, and since I'm only one member of a seven-person committee, I don't think there's a risk of the audition being tainted as a result.

The tougher issue is what to do when a student of yours is auditioning. I don't know anyone who thinks the teacher should have to stop teaching the candidate in advance of the audition, but it would naturally be expected that the teacher would offer to recuse her/himself from discussion of her/his student during deliberations.

Here is my perspective on a good question. I'm speaking from the POV of the auditionee, not the committee member.

There is no harm in asking. Whats the worst they can say - No.

Look at this another way, think of all your friends/colleagues who went to schools in cities with big orchestras where the members also taught (ie. Juiliard/MSM to the NYPO/Met). If a teacher has a position at a school, and there is suddenly an opening in their section, are they going to put all their students off until the audition is over?

I have found on a personal level that no matter how much time I had with a member of the section, I still have to play great on audition day, and that hasn't helped. No point in knowing what will be on the final round if you can't get past prelims.

On another personal note, I wish the US Air Force would lift its hiring freeze so I could hear people audition for MY band. Would be nice to be on the other side of the screen for a change.

Sorry. Rant over.


Jay

If the teacher has agreed to teach you, then I don't see a problem. The only problem I have seen happen is people taking lessons in between rounds, esp. when they're spaced apart for a month or 2 or so. But in general, there are so many teachers giving lessons to students for prelims. I guess it would vary to certain individuals if that part is ethical or not, but I've hardly heard of this happening. Having lessons w/ someone in the orchestra certainly can't hurt, but like others have pointed out, you still need to advance in other rounds on your own merit.