Non-Traditional Tuba/Euphonium Excerpts

[tubachanell]

I'm wondering if anyone has come across major or non-major tuba or euphonium auditions be it professional/school/other where there were non-traditional excerpts requested/listed? Looking for works by modern-day composers and or works by women, BIPOC or LGBT composers that were included on a recent audition list. Please send my way if you have seen any, thanks!

Chanell

[MikeRobinson]

This is a great idea!

Are you looking mainly for excerpt examples for auditions within classical/art music ensembles or non-traditional ensemble auditions? There are many resources out there regarding the process, procedures, and strategies for classical/art music auditions (orchestra, military band, quintet, etc), but considerably less for alternative ensembles that might offer tuba/euphonium employment (NO-style Brass Bands, Banda, jazz groups, etc).

As a side note, I think it would be interesting for someone to dive into the representative accuracy of tuba auditions. How often do the works on the audition list actually get performed by the orchestra? Heck, I wish the orchestras around me played those big bombastic tuba showcases more often. How representative is the audition material of the actual tuba work with the orchestra? If you're not playing The Ride, how often are you playing works that require that technique? What kind of playing is most representative of the actual job itself and what excerpts allow the candidate to demonstrate it? The big question is... how effective are these auditions in actually choosing the best candidate for the job [which is separate from determining who is the best "player"]? I've been listening to too many Malcolm Gladwell podcasts.

Back on track, I can't remember any specific auditions, but I have noticed on occasion the following excerpts:

• Blue Cathedral - Jennifer Higdon

• Sensemaya - Silvestre Revueltas

• Short Ride in a Fast Machine - John Adams

For the band stuff, I suppose there's a question of how "modern" is "Modern," as about everything for the medium fits under what often qualifies as "modern" for orchestras. These are a few I've seen pop up frequently:

• Symphonic Dances from West Side Story - Bernstein (Band arrangement seen on military auditions)

• Third Symphony - James Barnes

• J'ai été au bal - Donald Grantham

[The Brute Squad]

I don't have it bookmarked on this computer unfortunately, but I remember someone a few years ago compiling a list of audition excerpts grouped by how common they are, and IIRC Sensemayá and Short Ride show up commonly. There might have been another piece or 2 by both composers (Harmonielehre is sticking out in my brain, so maybe that's one) on the list, too.

I'm almost positive I got it from TubeNet, so you could probably search for it.