Marine Band Audition Results

Announcements for Auditions, competitions, and the results
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Tom Holtz
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Marine Band Audition Results

Post by Tom Holtz »

The preliminary round on Monday, March 22 began at 9:00 am and concluded at about 7:30 pm. Seven candidates were selected to advance to semi-finals. In alphabetical order:
  • David Ammerman
    Jonathan Fowler
    James Hicks
    Paul Mergen
    Daniel Peck
    Tim Royster
    Ryan Scott
The semi-final and final rounds were held this morning (Tuesday the 23rd.) James Hicks, Paul Mergen, and Tim Royster were advanced to the final round, and Paul Mergen was selected as the winner of the audition. All three rounds were held behind the screen. The committee was composed of the senior tuba section members and the assistant directors. The principal players of each brass section joined the committee for the final round.

Our thanks go out to everyone who came to Washington DC and participated in the audition process, and congratulations to all the semi-finalists and finalists for advancing through a large and highly competitive field. The winner, Paul Mergen, is currently studying with Scott Mendoker at Rutgers University, and will join the USMB later this year. Paul was a finalist four years ago when Frank Crawford won his position, and the runner-up two years ago when Chris Tiedeman won his position.

There were a total of 78 candidates for the preliminary round. Many of those candidates in the morning hours had to deal with several distractions during their auditions, such as the jackhammer in the parking lot right outside the door to the band hall, the Barracks' officers practicing their marching drills with parade music blasting on the loudspeakers right outside the door to the band hall, engineers walking in and out unexpectedly, and the really big jackhammer they brought in later (the first one wasn't doing the job, apparently :shock: ) that literally shook the foundations of the building we were in. These events were beyond the Band's control, and added a lot of frustration to an already difficult job for both the candidates and the committee. Several candidates advanced to semi-finals during that time frame, displaying their talent and professionalism in less than ideal circumstances. To be honest, such is life in the Marines--never a dull moment.

Thank you again, to all who participated, for your hard work, your patience, and your musicianship. We heard a lot of good tuba playing this week.

Tom Holtz
United States Marine Band
Last edited by Tom Holtz on Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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WoodSheddin
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Post by WoodSheddin »

thanks for the info :)
sean chisham
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Adam C.
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Post by Adam C. »

Paul was also a finalist for the CG Band tuba audition last year. Fine player.
Hiram
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Post by Hiram »

And once again CCM rocks it, Go Allen!
Last edited by Hiram on Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tom Holtz
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Re: Marine Band Audition Results

Post by Tom Holtz »

mirafone1 wrote:Thanks again for taking the time to listen to us all Tom. I appreciated all the candor with your comments after everything was over.
Sincerely,

~RYAN SCOTT
Don't mention it. It was good to finally meet you guys, after spending a day and a half referring to everyone as numbers. Sorry about the typo, I was going by a list of names that someone else had printed out.

Tom Holtz
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