NCO 2019

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Traditionally for many years MN has had an audition thread; so here it is as the auditions start in a few days 😀

Patrick - Floot is right; lots of young people do one or the other, some do both. There is no connection at all in terms of the children.

I didn't realise that. I assumed that as NCO stopped at 14, one naturally progressed to NYO

Every day is a school day on MN!

Our problem with NYO would be the commitment. I understand NYO has quite heavy commitments? Even NCO seems a bit tricky this year as he's auditioning for U12 so if he is successful he'll have a course twice a year instead of just summer. It's great but may clash with something else.

Audition over. DD came out smiling and said it was fun so I am very relieved the sight reading was not as bad as we had feared. DD said she could do it...and breathe. Her pieces - she had a slip up on one bit. She said she just couldn't remember what came next bless her.

They asked her where she lived... she reeled off her whole address I've explained they meant what city. Then they asked who her teacher was. Apparantly there was a 3rd question but she can't remember it

Yes I think you're right Crazy, she said everyone was very nice. She said she would have liked to go back in and do it again. She was very nervous before she went in so they put her at ease.

Sounds like she enjoyed it and played well, owlm - well done to her!
Slips really don't matter - we're only human. 😊

Yes I'm glad she enjoyed it. She will want to audition again next year, even if the result isn't what she wants

Well done to miniowlm! Glad she enjoyed it. At this age, it has to be a positive experience.

Glad it was a good experience owlm sounds like it went well !

I hope she played well. No idea as we couldn't hear from the waiting room. Any DCs auditioning this week?

Well done mini owlm. They are looking for overall quality of playing. Slips don’t matter, especially at your DD’s age. Glad the sight reading went well!

Rupertswife you were spot on! 4 bars and no shifts. She was so relieved as I had been giving her grade 5, 16 bars to try out Mean Mommy. I figured it was better for her to come out saying it was easier than harder Plus she's no longer afraid of sight reading. Thanks so much for your advice.

Hello - has anyone got experience of auditioning on Percussion? DD going for her first audition at the end of the month. We are assuming we just show up with mallets and a good attitude. Any guidance much appreciated!

@dinosaur
Percussionist's mummy here. Your DD will need to play one piece on each of snare, timpani and tuned (we've always done tuned on xylophone so I'm not sure what else would be provided, snare drum and timpani are provided). Yes, take your own sticks. We've never used an accompanist. Your DD will need to sight-read on snare, timpani and tuned. When my DS was little I used to go in with him to help him set up the perc (eg xylo to the correct height etc) but now he's older he does all that himself.

Please just shout with any queries - we're old hands now!

And good luck, obvs!

Thank you Boyskeepswinging! I'll PM you more specific questions - I have lots. No idea about percussion as I'm a string player myself. Much appreciated.

No worries! Just replying to you now ...

Given the number of residentials held in Cumbria and Lancashire I don't think there is a North/South divide!

I'm a Perc Mummy so I'll let a Violin Mummy respond to your specific queries - we're an endangered species so Perc is not particularly competitive!

Hi teabiscuit, I don't have lots experience with NCO, but I have a violinist who is auditioning for U12 and he's just done his first time residential for U11 this summer.

Have you looked at NCO's website where you can see some guidelines of expected levels/grades for each orchestra? People may think NCO is full of G8+ musicians but what I thought from my experience was the guidelines on the website were actually quite spot-on. Plenty G8 kids can't get in. So don't worry about the grade thing. No all the children have fantastic violins neither, they are probably well maintained though (strings that match to the violin, good set-up, etc). Sight-reading seems to be very important as for any orchestra. So you may want to ask her teacher to give her some tips and perhaps focus on them a bit in the run-up to the audition? I know quite a few brilliant violinists from north who attended NCO with DS this summer. Usually you get the result early Dec.

'Plenty/a lot of G8' may have been a bit of exaggeration, sorry, as I don't know the exact number or proportion but at least I know a few G8 who couldn't get in. I don't know why, but they may have passed the exam but may not be at the standard yet (very common) or they may be weak at sight reading. I don't know the level of sight-reading they'll hand DCs at audition, but better to prepare this side of skills as it's quite important. I don't know your DD's level but perhaps start with the material she can cope easily at first and work up from there with a help of teacher? DS played pieces that were nowhere near G8 for U11 (he hadn't done any grade in fact). He has improved a lot since then, so I am not sure if they could see it. He played something he could play without any struggles - I think it may be better than playing something out of your ability.