Something to say?
Even though I was prepared for it, last week’s ad for my soon-to-be vacant chair with the BSO still felt like a bit of a shock. The end of this chapter of my professional life is starting to feel real in a new way, and there’s no amount of knowing or planning that can predict how this experience will unfold for me.
After I took some breaths and let myself feel my feelings 💙, I got curious about the audition itself.
Hiring a musician into an orchestra is a big deal, and the audition process is incredibly intense. A well-designed audition attempts to get a complete picture of a candidate in a very brief period of time — it’s almost like choosing a life partner after just a few rounds of speed dating!
And just like in speed dating (I presume?), you want to maximize the information you can gather in a short window of time.
Good audition committees think carefully about the repertoire they choose. What’s most relevant? What are their highest artistic priorities? What’s most important for them to know about a potential principal flutist?
I’m not part of this audition process (nor should I be), and so I didn’t see the required repertoire until it was posted online.
Wow.
It’s an inspired selection of music, heavily prioritizing artistry, expression, and nuance — much less focused on simple technical prowess.
It’s as if each musical selection asks the player an open-ended question: What do you have to say? What do you choose to say? What will you create here?
These open-ended questions are different from the more straightforward “was this executed correctly?”
It turns out open-ended questions are magical in many ways, allowing us to discover so much more than either/or questions. Think about these examples outside of music:
Are you mad at me? (yes/no)
What are you feeling right now? (open-ended)
Do you like your job? (yes/no)
How is this job for you? (open-ended)
Are you going to tolerate this behavior or say something? (only 2 choices)
What do you want to do here? (open-ended)
Was this project successful or not? (only 2 choices)
Tell me what you discovered by doing this project? (open-ended)
As a coach I am trained to ask open-ended questions. As a person/friend/spouse/colleague, I often have to remind myself to use them.
What about you? Do you use open ended questions?
(Whoops! 😉)
What kind of questions work best for you?
INVITATION TO REFLECT: Think back to your last few conversations. Ask yourself how more open-ended questions might have shifted the tone or depth of that interaction.