Auditioning Process

Enhanced Perception — A Superpower of Deliberate Practice

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(The Attributes of Deliberate Practice: Enhanced Perception) Back in 2017, I chaired the audition committee for the MET Orchestra’s co-principal timpani audition, won by my phenomenal colleague Parker Lee. Like most ICSOM orchestra auditions, the first phase is sorting through resumes, and the second phase is listening to applicants’ CDs. The process is entirely blind, so the audition committee is simply voting “yes/no” on a number. In this instance, the CDs contained only six excerpts in the following order: Tchaik 4, Brahms 1, Mozart Magic Flute, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Verdi Don …

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Two Questions That Help Answer “Are You Intrinsically Motivated?”

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(The Attributes of Deliberate Practice: Commitment, Motivation, and Willpower) “It’s damn cold. My fingers are numb, and useless. With each breath, the intake is shocking, as if my lungs had already forgotten the frigid air inhaled only seconds before. I’m hunched with my arms curled around my knees in a desperate play to lose as little body heat as possible. And I’m so tired. Not just from the lack of sleep, but from the journey…this seemingly endless path. Tortuous and punishing. In moments like these, it’s hard not to ask ‘Why the …

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No One Gets There on Their Own

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(The Attributes of Deliberate Practice: Effective Teachers, Coaches, and Mentors) Proceed with Gratitude My 5th grade teacher was Mr. Shermock. His full name was Jim Shermock, but like so many other students now out in the world, I could never imagine calling him by his first name. The indelible imprint he left on my life has meant that, no matter how far I’ve gone beyond 5th grade (or high school or college), my feelings of gratitude and respect have coarsed along as powerfully as a subterranean river. Hence, Mr. Shermock. Much like …

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The Diminishing Returns of Practicing on Empty

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(The Attributes of Deliberate Practice: Physical Limits and Sleep-Replenishing) Have you ever fallen asleep standing up? I have. I was a freshman at Gustavus Adolphus College. My course load was too heavy, my time-management skills not yet adequate to the task, and I compensated by burning the candle at both ends…and in the middle. I was basically the college-freshman version of Prince Valium from SPACEBALLS. One particularly rough morning, I trudged down to my dorm’s communal bathroom facilities. The shower stalls were narrow brick-encased enclaves, like upright sarcophagi. I blasted the hot …

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Unless Your Phone Is in Airplane Mode, You Are Practicing like a Nazgûl

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(The Attributes of Deliberate Practice: Focus and Concentration) In the ancient past, devices were forged with which the Dark Lord would enslave the race of men. The lure of these devices’ power would prove so overwhelming that none could resist, and these men would ultimately become corrupted and trapped, fading into disembodied Wraiths and permanently bound to the will of their master. “They are…neither living or dead. At all times they [are] drawn to the power of the one…. They will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, …

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