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I got into a heated debate with somebody about Prokofiev 5 the other day. I have never EVER heard a performance, or recording for that matter, where the conductor takes the section from 3 to 6 in tempo. Every conductor takes some musical license. My friend argued, at an audition the committee wants to hear the musical lines, therefore the auditioner should be as musical as possible and has license to stretch tempo where appropriate. I said, despite the fact that you would never do it in a real performance, under no circumstances should you play any of the excerpt rubato at an audition. The committee will just think you can't play in time. What say you TNFJ?

Always strict tempo. You can still be expressive without shifting tempos

Just play the ink. They want you to play the tuba part as it is written. They will have the parts that you are playing in front of them and if you do stuff that's not indicated by the ink they will think that you are unable to play the part as it is written. They are indeed looking for someone to play "musically" but you have to do that within the confines of the part.

It has been my experience that when audition panels complain about a lack of expression, 99% of the time it is regarding dynamics or length of notes/phrases...not tempo.

If one must vary their tempo in order to be expressive, then they may wish to reconsider taking major auditions at this point in their development.

Want the less "PC" version?...If your only way of being expressive is to push and pull your tempo (or increase your vibrato), it's time to go back to class and learn one of the many other methods before wasting more time and money.

Want friendly advice?.....Varying your tempo may leave the audition panel to guess whether or not you can play in time. Combine that with a failure to play the written dynamic differences and proper note values, and it becomes easy to conclude that you have a lack of basic musicianship..........."thank you!"

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Auditions and performance are two separate animals.

In audition
You're dealing usually with a committee which will have no tuba on it, unless perchance it's the person leaving.

If it's a multi-round deal, likely the first round is to see who should get passed on. There, you play in a box called the ink, and only deviate if you are asked to. If you play the ink and the committee WANTS more, and is doing their job, they'll ASK FOR IT. And be ready to be asked to, even if it doesn't make sense, just to see if you can handle change.

You will have slightly more leeway in a later round, playing with the bone section. But there, you LISTEN to find out how they do it, because there they're looking for a blend, and I have yet to meet a Principal Trombone who doesn't want things done THEIR WAY. And they will ask the trombone section for their input here.

Even if you make it to a week or more playing with the orchestra, you are still trying to anticipate how the Music Director wants it. Again, you will have listened to recordings, so you should have a good idea, but that will only allow you to better anticipate what is required.

If you win and get the gig, even during probation your playing must be reactive to what you hear.

Bottom Line: During the whole process, the committee and Music Director are looking to see how well you can follow and fit/blend with what's already there. If you can do THAT and they want more, they'll ask. But the shortest way to the curb is to show ANYTHING that you're not asked to.

I believe that even in the much publicized Philadelphia audition, it was Ms. Jantsch's obvious mastery of fundamental playing far beyond the usual range, not her solo interpretations that made her such an attractive choice.

Very interesting. Thank you for the comments.