Reflection on the Auditions

          So far I have held volunteer at the Lexington Philharmonic by attending their musician auditions for the viola and the bass. Both Saturdays I rode my bike downtown to a nice little church where they hold the auditions and I met up with Amanda to begin the day. The first Saturday that I worked, the viola auditions, she set me up in a texting chain so that I could work behind the scenes at the auditions. My job was to run around, from room to room, warning the musicians when they had five minute to go before their performance. The task was not hard, but at times it was very repetitive and I didn’t appreciate it as much as I would have liked.

          The bass auditions however, were altogether different. As Amanda told me at the begging of my second day of working, the musicians’ personalities can be generalized based on the instrument they play, and she said that bass players were generally more upbeat, happy, and willing to talk. This time instead of having me work behind the scenes to tell them when their audition was starting, she had me escort the musicians back upstairs, with all of the heavy equipment that bass players carry with them. I really enjoyed this task because as Amanda warned, bass players could be really talkative. I had a few amazing conversations with these extraordinary musicians from all over the place while I led them around this church.

         Of everything that I have done so far with the Lexington Philharmonic, that day of audition has by-far been the best. I don’t think I ever forget the casual conversations I was able to have with those incredible musicians. In just a few minutes with each bassist, I connected more, and appreciated the task more, than the entire day I spent working with the viola players, It was very fun.