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Double Bass College Auditions

B

Bassic Karma

Dec 16, 2010
22
0
Kingwood, Texas. Houston Area
#1
Hello talkbass community, I am going to be auditioning for various colleges during January/February of 2011 such as:

-College (Bass Professor)

-University of Houston (Dennis Whittaker)
-University of North Texas (Jeff Bradetich)
-Boston University (Ed Barker)
-CURTIS (EDGAR MEYER, HAL ROBINSON)

Im planning on playing the following:

-Koussevitzky movements 1 and 2
-Both Bourees from suite 3
-Excerpts? I was thinking Brahsm 2 E to F, Prokofiev R&J at rehearsal number 49-51, and the excerpt containing the Dotted 8th-16th rhythm in Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Mvmt 4

I am gladly accepting any advice, hints, tips, or anything you would like to discuss about the college audition process, or also anything specific which you know about some of the listed Bass Professors :)
 
#2
Bassic Karma said:
Hello talkbass community, I am going to be auditioning for various colleges during January/February of 2011 such as:

-College (Bass Professor)

-University of Houston (Dennis Whittaker)
-University of North Texas (Jeff Bradetich)
-Boston University (Ed Barker)
-CURTIS (EDGAR MEYER, HAL ROBINSON)

Im planning on playing the following:

-Koussevitzky movements 1 and 2
-Both Bourees from suite 3
-Excerpts? I was thinking Brahsm 2 E to F, Prokofiev R&J at rehearsal number 49-51, and the excerpt containing the Dotted 8th-16th rhythm in Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Mvmt 4

I am gladly accepting any advice, hints, tips, or anything you would like to discuss about the college audition process, or also anything specific which you know about some of the listed Bass Professors :)
Click to expand...

It all sounds good. The excerpts could perhaps be a little more varied. You want to show as much of what you're good at with the amount of time you're given. The Brahms is an excellent choice, but I'm not sure about the Prokofiev or Berlioz. Do you have any Mozart or Beethoven excerpts you feel good about? Something that shows some refined strokes which also gives you a lot of room for musical choices.

That said, you don't have a bunch of time until the audition. Don't do anything you aren't completely comfortable with, and remember that they aren't looking for what you CAN'T do, they want to see what you have to offer. Play things that make you sound brilliant.
 
#3
Sadly, I do not have any Mozart or Beethoven prepared and seeing as its crunch time I don't know if I could learn anything new and have it sound as good as I would like it to sound. I have played Shostakovitch 4 recently and I could pull that out if that would be any better than Berlioz or Prokofiev. Although, I really like Prokofiev and plus my teacher (Donald Howey) said he played it to win his job at the Houston Symphony so its kind of like a good luck charm, although if you don't like it please elaborate :)
 
#4
Bassic Karma said:
Sadly, I do not have any Mozart or Beethoven prepared and seeing as its crunch time I don't know if I could learn anything new and have it sound as good as I would like it to sound. I have played Shostakovitch 4 recently and I could pull that out if that would be any better than Berlioz or Prokofiev. Although, I really like Prokofiev and plus my teacher (Donald Howey) said he played it to win his job at the Houston Symphony so its kind of like a good luck charm, although if you don't like it please elaborate :)
Click to expand...
I don't have a problem with any of your choices, I just thought more variety would be a good idea. Don Howey is a friend of mine and I would defer to him for any advice. He's a great player and knows better than I.

Any reason you left Rice off your list? It's close by and a great school.
 
#5
I am in the same position as you are but applying for none of the same schools. I am trying to squeeze in 3 excerpts: Mozart 40, Brahms 2 E-F, and Pictures at an Exhibition Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. I figured that the Mozart contrasts with Brahms and Mussorgsky enough for everything to be OK.
 
#7
PaulCannon said:
I don't have a problem with any of your choices, I just thought more variety would be a good idea. Don Howey is a friend of mine and I would defer to him for any advice. He's a great player and knows better than I.

Any reason you left Rice off your list? It's close by and a great school.
Click to expand...

I'll definitely look into trying to fit in a different/more diverse excerpt if I can.

As for Rice, I'm convinced that my mediocre grades will prevent me from getting in :hmm:

MDEbass:
Mike, pick up your phone, I'm a (206) number! Also, I should be seeing you here in a few weeks at the Boston regional audition haha
 
#17
I see some other TX people in this thread rofl.

IU (Bransby, Hurst)
BU (Barker)
UNT (Bradetich)
Curtis (Robinson, Meyer)
MSM (Cobb)
Eastman (VanDemark)

Koussevitzky - Mov. I, II
Bach - Suite No. 1, Minuets I & II
Bottesini Tarantella

Mozart 39 Mov. I
Beethoven 9 Recit.
Strauss Don Juan
 

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