Category: Audition-related Episodes

Episodes covering tactics, tips, and techniques for audition preparation.

396: Orin O’Brien on Leonard Bernstein, Fred Zimmerman, and life in the New York Philharmonic

Orin O'Brien credit: Henry Grossman

It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Orin O’Brien to the show!  I’ve been hoping to have Orin as a guest for years, and I want to give a big shout-out to Chris Mathers for connecting the two of us! We chat about numerous shared acquaintances, including Greg Sarchet, Miloslov Gajdos, David Grossman, Ira… Continue reading 396: Orin O’Brien on Leonard Bernstein, Fred Zimmerman, and life in the New York Philharmonic

383: The Orchestral Dream is Dead with Matt Waters

Earlier this summer, I read an article from Matthew Waters that caught my attention.  Titled The Orchestral Dream is Dead, it outlined Matt’s experiences going through school at UCLA and trying to develop a career in Los Angeles. I posted this article on Facebook, and it got a lot of thoughtful comments from orchestral musicians, students, and others.… Continue reading 383: The Orchestral Dream is Dead with Matt Waters

358: Orchestra and Opera Excerpts

This is a “best of” episode from three classic Contrabass Conversations episodes. Back in the early days of the podcast, John Grillo and I recorded two episodes that dissected various excerpts. He and I talked through each excerpt and then played a recording of John performing it. These have been extremely popular resources over the… Continue reading 358: Orchestra and Opera Excerpts