NCO2020

[Stringchild]

So my last time of opening this thread - a place to share 😊

Best of luck to everyone auditioning for 2020. Sadly DS is now too old but he has loved his time in NCO.

DS is auditioning for the first time this year (U10), all very exciting!

DC is auditioning on two instruments but has a definite preference . First year of nationals was a big success and is very keen for it to not be the last...! Preparations well under way.

PS @Stringchild glad DD is auditioning this final year xx

Squint - no decision made yet as school now thinking of putting on a tour that clashes with the summer dates....

Just wondered, are the indicated grades the grades passed or studying for? I was looking at u13 for my daughter who is 12 who got a merit in grade 6 flute and is working towards grade 7..... I am sure she would be keen but is she a grade below standard please?

Kate take them with a pinch of salt. I know some people claim to have higher grades on their applications and equally NCO don't always report grades correctly on that website. I know the (real) grades my DS's section had and they were different to what was on the website.

I really wouldn't worry about it. They're looking for musicality and potential, the grade is irrelevant. Many sections will have kids with a wide variety of grades - and what grade you are is no indicator of musical ability or potential anyway, hence the need for audition. Even NYO, where everyone has G8 Distinction, auditions everyone every year, even returning players.

Boyskeepswinging That is really helpful, thank you :)

No worries, Kate! All the best for the audition.

Checking in for this year. DD has had 2 fantastic years in U10s and U11s and is applying for U12s this year. Her tutor started off at the U11 course by saying that U12 was much more difficult to get into so they had better get practising! We shall see what happens...

Why is U12 much harder to get in? Mine will be auditioning for U13 if he really is going to try (not sure yet). We haven't talked to his teacher yet. He doesn't have any piece for the audition yet. He hasn't touched the excerpts yet!!

I think the older the orchestra the more competitive it becomes because the pool of potential players gets larger. Kids who've developed at a different pace and have gone from meh to wow in a year, kids who's parents/teachers wouldn't consider them for NCO at a younger age (or the kids themselves who didn't want to do it when they were younger), kids who only took up that particular instrument relatively recently (eg if you're a cracking violin player you have excellent transferable skills to viola and could play at a very decent level in a relatively short space of time).

My DS's teacher said the whole thing is a complete crapshoot every year because you can only do your best and you have no knowledge or control over who else is auditioning. This is wise advice. Just do your best. If you don't get in it's not the end of the world and there are lots of similar playing opportunities around.

Hi Boyskeepswinging,
What other similar playing opps are around please?

Hi Time There's loads out there depending on age, stage, instrument and musical interest/genre. If you look back at older music threads loads of different opportunities have been discussed. Posters often ask each other for advice along the lines of "I've come across XX course on Google, have any of your kids been on it and did they enjoy it" or ask for recommendations for specific instruments for specific ages and stages. Your teacher may also be able to recommend suitable courses.

Once you start looking the huge number of courses on offer can be overwhelming so it's great to be able to discuss suitability with other music parents on this forum.

DS is auditioning for the first time for U10s this year.

Dd is auditioning for U12 for the first time. She’s just changed teacher so this is going to be interesting...

DD2 is keen to audition for the U11s but we're on holiday when it takes place. How does membership of the regional or associate orchestras get decided? Is it at audition or just a signing up thing?

Regional orchestral membership is decided on the audition, just like the age banded orchestras. From memory I think you say which one(s) you'd prefer and then they allocate places to give balanced orchestras. In the olden days when you chose the regional yourself you could end up with 12 percussionists in one regional and none in another so they're trying to mitigate against this.

Caveat: my DS is too old to audition this year so it could have all changed again since last year.

DD2 auditioning for U10 on cello... it's a long shot but the audition prep has given her some much needed focus.

DD1 has decided to hang up her NCO hat in favour of other opps this year. Will be strange, but I get her reasoning.

Love this thread and seeing how everyone gets on, good luck everyone! 😊

DS wants to audition but he hasn't got a permission from the teacher yet. He wants to go through the excepts and decide the pieces with the teacher but only time is passing fast...

Wow. Just realised only a month or so to go. That doesn't look good!

magna the closing date is today... Have you managed to get permission yet?

Yes I booked a slot as soon as DS confirmed he would like to do it. So at least he has a slot when the teacher approves. The teacher isn't particularly aware of the deadline so if we'd just waited her reply it could have been too late...

So to answer to your question, no, I'm afraid we still haven't got a permission... 😞

Glad you’ve got a slot! Dd only decided last minute that she wanted to have a go and there were very few left that we could make. It’s definitely a long shot for dd!