Friday, December 22, 2006

exorcising audition demons

Lately I've been reading the blog Dragons and Princesses, written by a violinist under the name E.C.D. She has begun a series of posts chronicling auditions, leaving out any incriminating details: so far there is a Part One and Part Two. The big discovery here for me is not so much that violinists can be absurdly, maddeningly manipulative - playing mind games with eachother in the warm-up room and the waiting room, games which E.C.D. does her level best to resist entering. I probably already knew about these types, though hearing them in action is kind of astounding. Even more surprising, though, is that anyone could write about her audition experiences with so much grace, wit, and clarity - even without naming names.

Most of my audition experiences, I'm afraid to say, I've either blocked out or overdramatized in my memory. I think it's a great exercise though, or maybe exorcism is the better word - laughing at the insidious audition demons, so they can't take possession of your own mind!

In the meantime, I want to borrow an element from E.C.D.'s blog, a list on the sidebar of things I've been reading. I'm usually obsessed by some book or article, which infiltrates all my thoughts and even my writing - speaking of possession - but often I don't get around to mentioning these. So if you are ever curious what might influence me to write such odd things, a glance at the "What I'm reading" list might help shed some light. And if you would like to learn more about something I list there, please feel free to e-mail or comment, and I'll try to answer as best I can!

4 comments:

mkhall said...

I've been reading her blog as well, and it's quite entertaining.

RG said...

A little late for a welcome back, but I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see you're writing again. After all, it's hard to keep up with all things New World just by reading Larry Johnson and Lawrence Budmen.

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year.

- Spot (a former colleague from the NWS horn section who isn't nearly as comfortable blogging under his own name as you seem to be!)

Matt Heller said...

Thanks for the welcome, and for the heads-up on your blog! I've added it to my list, which is quickly reaching Santa-esque proportions. (Hopefully I will not need to divide up the naughty and nice blogs.)

Best wishes, Spot!

E said...

Thanks so much for writing this feature article; I'm glad I entertain all of you. Complete identity has to remain secret (on my blog) at least until I get out of my current DMA institution, but I hope to meet some of you in Miami soon if they ever call me to sub again. Will be posting many more times in the next few weeks. Best, Eileen