By Orchestra Manager Isabel Thiroux, who is an alumnus of AYS.
What will happen after I sign up?
You will receive a confirmation email that your application has been received. The Orchestra Manager will review your application to make sure all necessary information is included. Your audition time will be sent to you via email. Please confirm it! If you do not reply to confirm, then your audition time will be reassigned. If you have a conflict with your assigned audition time later on, it’s important to let someone in the office know, preferably the Orchestra Manager. We will help you reschedule your audition.
How do I get to Schoenberg Hall?
• Take the 405 freeway to the Wilshire exit
• Take Wilshire east, and continue to Westwood
• Turn left on Westwood and continue to Le Conte
• Turn right on Le Conte and continue to Hilgard
• Turn left on Hilgard and continue up the hill to Westholme
• Turn left into the UCLA campus at Westholme
• Schoenberg Hall is at the corner of Westholme Ave. and Charles E. Young Dr., diagonal from the Lot 2 parking structure. When you enter, take the stairs or elevator up one floor, and follow the hall to your right to room 1343.
You have two parking options:
1. To the right is a parking and information kiosk for Lot 2. Stop here to get an all-day parking permit for Lot 2 ($11). The attendant can direct you from the kiosk to the entrance to the structure (which is the building directly to your left).
OR
2. Pass the kiosk and turn left at the next stoplight. Follow the signs for “Pay-by-Space” to the lower entrance of Lot 2. Park in a numbered space, and purchase a permit from the vending machine. Take the permit back to your car and leave it on your dashboard. The machine accepts cash or cards.
Additional information: http://www.ucla.edu/map
How and where do I sign in when I arrive?
When you enter the Herb Alpert School of Music, take the stairs or elevator up one floor, and follow the hall to room 1343. There will be signs posted in and around the building to lead you to the check-in table located in the hallway, near the audition room (Orchestra Room 1343). You will be asked to fill out an audition form that we will hand to the panel at the time of your audition.
What is the audition like? What will I play, who will I play for, and for how long?
When your audition is about five minutes away, an AYS volunteer will come looking for you you in your warm-up room and bring you to your audition. The volunteer will walk in with you and hand the audition form to the panel. We do not audition behind screens.
The panel varies depending on your instrument. Music Director Alexander Treger, Assistant Conductor Radu Paponiu, Executive Director Janneke Straub and Orchestra Manager Isabel Thiroux are present at all auditions. Mr. Treger invites principal players from the orchestra and alumni to sit on panel. They help Mr. Treger in the decision process and are taught how to lead auditions. They welcome each candidate on behalf of the panel, communicate the order of the audition and keep track of time. This gives current members an opportunity to learn about leadership. It’s a rare opportunity and a great one.
Your audition will only be about 7 minutes long. You will be asked to first play part of your prepared solo piece, then excerpts from the list. All auditions are unaccompanied. Mr. Treger tries hard to ask each candidate to play the exact same excerpts but after hearing 22 or more string players perform part of Mozart 35, he may need to make a change…
Will I have a time and a place to warm up?
Warm-up rooms will be clearly marked in Schoenberg Hall. Please visit the check-in table and we will direct you to a warm-up room. Unfortunately, there are rarely enough rooms for each candidate to have their own. Please keep in mind that you may be sharing your warm up space with others.
How many people are applying? And how many will get in?
There has been a steady increase of applicants over the years. Last year, 230 applicants auditioned. We are now receiving approximately five applications per day and preparing to listen to nearly 300 candidates in just four days.
There are some great openings this season, including concertmaster, principal second violin, principal viola, principal cello, trumpet 1 and 2, co-principal trombone. We are looking to fill 30 positions and add musicians to our sub list.
How and when will I hear from you about the results?
On occasion the panel has announced results once a group of auditions has finished. In general, you can expect to have the results emailed to you a week after the auditions. And the new orchestra roster will be posted on our website at aysymphony.org.
