HOW & WHEN DO TCM AUDITIONS TAKE PLACE?
Fall 2021 TCM Orchestra Auditions will take place from 8am-12noon on Saturday, August 21st. Students must submit the PDF registration to Brad Bohn at brad@temeculaconservatory.com by the deadline of Friday, August 20th, Midnight.
HOW MUCH DO AUDITIONS COST?
For students not taking private instruction at TCM there will be a $15 audition fee required. Please Venmo your fees to @temeculaconservatory with the name of your student in the notes. For other ways of paying the fee please contact director Brad Bohn at brad@temeculaconservatory.com.
SHOULD I MEMORIZE MY MUSIC?
Memorization is not required. If you would like to memorize your music you are welcome to do so; however, it does not affect your audition score.
HOW WILL MY AUDITION BE JUDGED?
All auditions are blind. Your audition will be judged by two judges on the other side of a black curtain dividing the room. The adjudication sheets our judges will use are available at the following links.
Adjudication Point Scale Chart
WHAT CRITERIA WILL THE JUDGES BE USING TO JUDGE MY PERFORMANCE?
The judges will score with the following criteria:
Tone Quality (10% of score)
Intonation Accuracy (40% of score)
Rhythm Accuracy (40% of score)
Dynamics/Interpretation (10% of score)
The scores for Tone Quality and Dynamic/Interpretation with be two subjective scores out of 10 given by each judge. Both judges scores for these two criteria will be averaged together. For example one judge might give a score of 8 for Tone Quality and the second judge my give a score of 7 for Tone Quality. Averaged together this score would average out to be 7.5/10. The same will done for the Dynamics/Interpretation score.
The scores for Intonation Accuracy and Rhythm Accuracy will each be judged by one judge. For example Intonation Accuracy might be scored by only judged #1 and Rhythm accuracy would then be scored by only judge #2. These two criteria, Intonation Accuracy and Rhythm Accuracy will be scored by one judge using a pencil to tally down each time they hear an inaccuracy.
The final scores for Tone Quality and Intonation Inaccuracy will each be determined by taking the total number of inaccuracies and finding on the Adjudication Point Scale Sheet the total points taken off out of 40. Both criteria, Intonation Accuracy and Rhythm Accuracy are judged using a scaled down point system on the Adjudication Point Scale Chart.The first ten inaccuracy's are worth 1.6 points each. The second ten inaccuracies are worth 1.2 each. The third ten inaccuracies are worth .8 each. The fourth ten inaccuracies are worth .4 each.
The final score will be determined by taking all four scores and adding them together. The score will equal somewhere between 0-100.
WHAT SCORE IS REQUIRED TO BE ACCEPTED INTO JUNIOR ORCHESTRA?
All students auditioning for Junior Orchestra will be accepted.
WHAT SCORE IS REQUIRED TO BE ACCEPTED INTO YOUTH ORCHESTRA?
A student must obtain a score of 80/100 or above in order to be accepted into the Youth Orchestra
WHAT SCORE IS REQUIRED TO BE ACCEPTED INTO YOUTH SYMPHONY?
A student must obtain a score of 80/100 or higher to be accepted into the Youth Symphony.
WHAT IF I AUDITION FOR YOUTH ORCHESTRA BUT DON'T MAKE THE REQUIRED SCORE TO BE ACCEPTED?
All students auditioning for Youth Orchestra who do not receive the required score will be placed in the Junior Orchestra. Their seating will be determined by the recorded video of the audition and the final judgement call will be made by or director Brad Bohn.
WHAT IF I AUDITION FOR YOUTH SYMPHONY BUT DON'T MAKE THE REQUIRED SCORE TO BE ACCEPTED?
If a student has already been accepted into the Youth Orchestra, auditions for the Youth Symphony but does not recieve a high enough score they will continue on in the Youth Orchestra. Their audition video will be evaluated by our director Brad Bohn and they will be seated according to his final judgement.
Students auditioning for Youth Symphony who have never been in a TCM orchestra and who do not receive the required score will have their audition evaluated by our director Brad Bohn. Their audition will determine if they will be placed in the Youth Orchestra or Junior Orchestra. Their seating will be determined by the recorded video of the audition and the final judgement call will be made by or director Brad Bohn.
CAN I GET A COPY OF THE AUDITION VIDEO BEING TAKEN BY TCM?
Audition video will only be pulled by Brad Bohn if a student does not make their desired orchestra. He will pull it to determine their final placement. Parents, please note that pulling video is very time consuming process using a Nest Camera that is usually only used for surveillance of TCM studios. Pulling video will not be done if a student is curious or to be used by a parent or student to contest a score. Unless extreme circumstances occur, all scores determined by the judges will be considered final.
HOW WILL THE ORCHESTRAS BE ORGANIZED AFTER ALL THE AUDITION SCORES ARE IN?
Students in each orchestra will be seated in the based on their score with the top scores receiving a principal chair. For example the top score of the violins will be the Concert Master, the top score of the violas will be Principal Viola, the top score of the cellos will be the Principal Cello and the top bass score will be the Principal Bass. All the violins will be split into three sections based upon the total number of auditionees. If there are no violas auditioning the violins will be seated according to their scores. For example, if there are 12 violins auditioning the First violins will most likely have 4 violins, the Second Violins will then have 4 violins and the Third Violins will have four violins. This means as the scores are listed the top score would become the Concert Master, the fifth best score would become Principal 2nd and the 9th best audition score would become Principal 3rd. If the total number of violins are odd then the first violins will receive the extra violin.
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR TO AUDITIONS?
Students should wear comfortable clothing to perform in. Since auditions are “blind,” you do not need to dress up.
WHEN WILL I FIND OUT THE RESULT OF MY AUDITION?
All audition results will be announced via text message and email by 10am, Monday, August 23rd. Be sure to enter your email address correctly into the registration PDF and make sure that your email account will accept mail from brad@temeculaconservatory.com (not blocked by your spam folder).
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN TCM ORCHESTRAS?
To be a member of a TCM Orchestra, a student need only audition. Students must be currently be taking private lessons from some source to compliment their music education as this will help them succeed at a much faster rate. Students will provide the contact information of their teacher on the registration form. TCM will contact all private teachers before the auditions to confirm a student is currently taking private lessons.
WHAT IS THE COST TO PARTICIPATE IN A TCM ORCHESTRA?
Tuition per semester is $300. Current students of TCM may break up these payments into five monthly installments of $60/month. Students not taking private lessons at TCM will be required to pay the $300 orchestra fee in one installment. All payments must be paid via credit card. There will be no refunds for orchestra if a student decides to withdraw during the semester.
WHICH ORCHESTRA SHOULD I AUDITION FOR?
Students who are playing at a Suzuki book 1 and 2 level should audition for the TCM Junior Orchestra.
Students who are playing at a Suzuki book 3 and 4 level should audition for the TCM Youth Orchestra.
Students who are playing at a Suzuki book 5 level or above should audition for the TCM Youth Symphony.
WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD THE AUDITION MUSIC?
For audition music please CLICK HERE.
WHO WILL THE JUDGES BE WHO ARE JUDGING?
Judges will consist of private teachers from the surrounding area.
WHAT WILL THE JUDGES SAY WHEN I WALK IN TO THE AUDITION ROOM?
Here is an example of what you might hear the judges say as the door is closed on the audition room and you begin your audition.
"Hello student number 5, we will first be starting with the scale. Please play this scale at the following speed." (The judge will play the speed of the scale with a metronome and give a verbal example of the speed of the scale such as tah, tah, tah, tah.
Once the student finishes the judge may say "Thank you student number 5. Next we will have you play excerpt number 1. Here is the speed of this excerpt". The judge will play a metronome at the required speed and give a verbal example of the first 1 or two measures of the excerpt.
Once the audition is over the judge will say something like "Thank you student number 5!". At this point the audition staff will open the door and the student will leave the room without speaking. If a student makes any sound or noise with their voice they may be disqualified from the audition.
All students auditioning for a particular orchestra will hear the judges say exactly the same thing as the judges will have a script they will be reading to make sure every student receives the exact same experience.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I HAVE A QUESTION OR PROBLEM DURING THE AUDITION?
If you are confused or need help in any way during the audition you will step out of the room, close the door and speak with the audition staff who will be standing outside the audition room. The audition staff will then speak with the judges on the issue or question the auditioning student may have.
WILL WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BE GIVEN A WALK THROUGH EXAMPLE OF HOW TO DO AN AUDITION?
Yes. Before each audition begins our director Brad Bohn will walk all of the students together through the audition process as he walks them through the studio through each step until the completion of an audition. Brad will at that time answer all questions the students have about the audition.