The July 2006 featured artist of the month is George Brown.

George is principal timpanist of the Utah Symphony Orchestra and also adjunct professor of timpani at the University of Utah.

Post a question for George.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MyAuditions,

Howdy!

A. How do you like Salt Lake City

B. How is Keith Lockhart to work for?

I always wondered how they audition percussionist and the myriad of percussive instruments they are required to play. Can you elaborate?

quote:

Originally posted by Cygnus:
Howdy!

A. How do you like Salt Lake City

B. How is Keith Lockhart to work for?

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Hi Cygnus,

I really enjoy Salt Lake City and, for the most part, have been quite content living here lo these last 19 years. Having grown up back East and tolerated many years of humidity, I particularly like living in the West's hi-country, where damp air and flying 'critters' are NO LONGER an issue in my life. Though I live just blocks from Abravanel Hall (a VERY nice 'office' BTW) and can walk to work easily, I can also gaze out over my deck and see spectacular snow covered peaks just a few miles away. The downtown area here is clean, pretty and safe; and as the town supports the arts well, the streets don't just roll-up at night.

Certainly, when my position came open in 1987, I had a lot of questions about the city and the state, and my head was also filled with a myriad of pre-conceived notions about the local culture and religion. BUT, with the Utah Symphony being a 52 week orchestra, I wasn't about to let that get in the way of going after this job 'full-throttle.' And after winning the audition and settling in here, I found that Salt Lake was really much too diverse a town to pigeon-hole easily, even with a dominant local culture. Actually in the city itself, that culture isn't nearly as dominant as outsiders may think and folks of many faiths and mindsets get along together just fine here.

Last, but certainly not least, the band plays great, the hall sounds great and the city loves us. I really can't complain......

As to your 2nd question, working for Lockhart is relatively easy. His approach to reheasing is quite collaborative and not authoritarian at all. He's businesslike and knows what he wants from people but normally handles things in a very amicable way.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pauker,

Hi Forrester,

An interesting question, and not answered quickly. Fundamentally however, we have our lists of orchestral excerpts as do players of the other instruments.

If the open position is advertised as Principal Timpani there will only be timpani excerpts required unless otherwise specified in the ad. If the ad says "Percussion/Assistant Timpani, then a handful of timpani excerpts will be included as part of the laundry list of other instruments the candidate will need to play.

Section Percussion auditions will require players to display their excerpt skills on all the instruments normally called for in the standard rep. Those would be: bells, xly., snare, bass drum, cymbals, tamborine, triangle and castanettes. In addition drum-set may be called for, particularly if the retiring player was the designated 'trap-set' player when needed.

As with other instruments, the want-ad may also specify that sight-reading or a prepared piece may be required in addition to the excerpts; but its sort of an open-ended dabate as to how valuable these may be to an audition committee for assessing timpanists and percussionists.

Does that help?

Hi George,

If the opening is percussion and you are listening to candidates play the snare drum or cymbals, how do you interpret style and timbre other then rhythm.

It seems to me these percussion auditions are more about rhythm then anything else. How do you differentiate?

quote:

Originally posted by RNesmith:
Hi George,

If the opening is percussion and you are listening to candidates play the snare drum or cymbals, how do you interpret style and timbre other then rhythm.

It seems to me these percussion auditions are more about rhythm then anything else. How do you differentiate?

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Another good question. First of all, the player's sense of rhythm IS very important to the committee as the timpani and percussion section comprise the rhythmic backbone of the orchestra. So, if the section is respected by it's peers, those peers will often defer to them FOR the rhythm in many works (esp. if they don't feel secure with a particular conductor's rhythm or cloudy stick technique).

But over and above that, what DOES a committee listen for? First of all, closely related to rhythm is 'tempo.' Many of us here have participated in audition committees for various instruments. Quite often we hear candidates play excerpts with tempi that leave us all wondering things like: Has this person ever played this piece? Do they know the piece at all? The same is true for percussion auditions.

Phrasing (or lack therof) is another good way to tell if a player has a true familiarity with a work. The little snare solo from Lt. Kije can be played perfectly according to the ink, but w/o a sense of phrasing and direction it'll sit there like a box o'nails.

Timbre and sound color can be altered dramatically with differing sticks or mallets -- even with different grips and strokes. Also, many players bring their own tamborines, triangles, castanettes and even different sizes of crash cymbals. Certainly, a bad choice of cymbal or tamborine size could destroy a particular sound the committee is looking for, and even undermine a player's ability to execute the lick properly or in tempo.

Hopefully, the audition committee will consist of some percussionists, as often these players can help advise other instrumentalists on the committee at the outset in what to listen for during the excerpts. After such initial guidance, committee members normally can begin to discern these subtle differences between players when hearing them in a back-to-back situation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pauker,

Hi,
When taking a timpani audition for an orchestra what solo would you recommend when the panel asks for a solo of the candidates choice?
Thanks
Ben

Hi Ben,

You know, this may sound crazy at first, but I've had some good luck with Etude #11 from the old Vic Firth book. Its a variation on the solo timpani excerpt from the Martin Concerto for Seven Winds, Strings, Timpani and Percussion. That particular excerpt occurs close to the end, just before the Coda. Vic changes it around a bit and expands on it to make a very decent little solo piece. I've used it both in auditions and as an encore. I've also had students use it successfully in auditions. I think it's strength is that it allows one to play melodically instead of merely 'thunderously.' THAT'S always a pleasant shock to a committee....

To assist you in the effective phrasing of the tune, however, get a recording of the Frank Martin Concerto and listen to how the original excerpt fits in, thematically, with the whole piece.

Hi, George nice to meet you. Ok my question would be about the audition committee did you hear the recordings I personnally presented a concerto for 6 timpani and piano, Delecluse#18,Imprvovisation by Carter . 2nd question about your teaching at the Utha university do you have a lot of students and how do you proceed to invite people in your school ?

Sincerely,

Harry7

Hi Harry,

I'm not clear as to your 1st question, so if you'll re-phrase that one I'll answer it separately.

But as for your 2nd question, the number of students I have here at the Univ. of Utah varies from Semester to Semester. I have had as few as one and as many as nine. But I only teach Timpani on an adjunct basis. Doug Wolf teaches General Percussion, and rotates students over to me as he feels they are prepared to move onto Timpani for awhile. As most of the music students that come here are Music Education majors and will go on to becoming band Directors, I will normally teach them from 1 to 3 semesters. Occasionally, when a performance major seems particularly geared for timpani, they'll stick with me longer.

If you're interested in attending the U. of U., simply log onto their website, and you'll get all the information you need for applying to the University. You can probably apply directly on the website.

hey George,
Thanks for your reply I will check out that piece tomorrow! My ask you some stick choice questions please? Specifically for the following repetoire:
Schumann symph No.4
Beethoven No.4
Bhrams No.1
Tchaikovsky no.5
What sticks would you use for these pieces? I have some good info and experience with much of Beethoven but I've never played no. 4 which is coming up in our program soon.
Thanks in advance!
Ben

Hi Ben,

Its always problematic specifying sticks to someone without knowing a host of other variables, such as the acoustics of your hall, the make of your timpani (as well as their age, condition and the specific model), the timpani heads, your style of playing and the kinds of mallets you already use. Then there is always the factor of your conductor's concept of the piece as well as any possible preferences he/she may have towards what you are doing specifically. The point of all this is that one's sound is a result of an interwoven fabric of variables, all of which has an impact upon your mallet selection. Change but ONE THING in the mix (like a different hall or a different conductor's set of tempi) and you might be pulling sticks out of the bottom of your case that you have not used in months.

That said, here are some general indications for MY mallet choices in the works you mentioned. Also, take note that I prefer bamboo mallets most of the time, and since bamboo varies so much in weight, I use light, medium and heavy versions of my generals, normal-staccatos and ultra-staccatos.


Beethoven 4: light or medium weight General sticks for the 1st two movements; and light or medium weight Ultra-staccatos for movemeents 3 & 4. If your ultra staccatos use felt similar to pool-table felt, however, try going to a normal-staccato and then choose what works better for you.

Brahms 1 : I prefer a medium or heavy weight general stick for almost all of it until right before the end when those fast triplet figures take off in the coda, and then I go to a medium weight normal-stacatto to finish out the work.

Tchaikovsky 5 - Medium weight generals for the 1st two movements. Medium weight normal-staccatos for the 3rd movement. For Movement 4, I MOSTLY use those generals again, except for ultra staccatos during those two spots in the fast middle section with the crescendo rolls followed by the loud, punchy set of FFF quarter notes that diminuendo over 8 bars or so.

Schumann 4 - Mostly medium weight generals throughout except in the fast middle movement where I THINK I remember using normal staccatos.

Notice that I never mention using anything bigger (or more legato) than a heavier weight general stick. That's because with my drums in Abravanel Hall I don't usually have to. But I do own some bigger ones, just in case the specific composition, or the venue, makes them necessary.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pauker,

thanks heaps for that!
One of my biggest issues that I face is that we rehearse in a smallish studio hall then only get one rehearsal in the concert hall that we perform in before the concert. The acoustics are vastly different. Do you have an endorsement with any timp stick company? I am playing with an orchestra in SE Asia and we have just released a CD. I'm wondering how one might go about getting such an endorsement? At the moment I'm using 5 Pearl timpanis with nice renaissance heads but I'm not all that happy with the drums. I'm trying to convince management to buy some Adams as they just bought Adams vibes, marimba and glock. We are doing Schumann 4 and the dvorak cello concerto this weekend.
I too am preferring bamboo handles at the moment and am using grovers. I seem to never have enough sticks......