Audition - which pieces to choose (audio links)

Edited: January 8, 2026, 4:20 PM · The Bach and the Mozart in my opinion, in that order. Full disclosure, I only listened to the first two or three minutes of each recording. But there is a really glaring error early in the Saint-Saens that I think you do not want to put in an application.

Edited: January 8, 2026, 5:01 PM · I'm also not sure how "contrasting" the IRC is. The Bach is the most contrasting. As far as quality of play, I am an amateur and I don't think my opinion will be of much use in this context. Good luck. The violin is brutally competitive.

January 8, 2026, 9:55 PM · Thanks Mary and Paul! We will go with Sib, Bach, and Mozart.

He only has ~1 hr a day to practice this year so things are moving very slow :).

January 8, 2026, 9:56 PM · I agree with Mary Ellen (the error bothered me too).

Edited: January 8, 2026, 10:01 PM · Hi Lydia and Mary,

I didn't notice the error at all... at which timestamp is it at?

His teacher only has time to look at this piece once in October so he's a bit lost using his own bowing.

Thanks!

January 9, 2026, 12:46 AM · The two things that I would pick on would be:
1. The first group of grace notes on the trills at 1:54 is woefully out of tune.
2. The missed shift at 2:21.

For me overall, the rhythmic integrity and intonation of the rondo section is just not quite there. I think that Mary Ellen's recommendation is spot on!

January 9, 2026, 3:14 AM · Bach fuga

January 9, 2026, 3:29 AM · Re the Saint-Saens, there are small intonation issues throughout but he hits one note a half-step flat around 2’20 - 2’21”. It’s impossible to say whether he was playing a wrong note or just missing a shift, but that’s where I stopped listening.

For essentially teaching himself on this piece, he does quite well! But I wouldn’t submit it as part of an audition or application.

January 9, 2026, 9:21 AM · 1. all 3 are extremely good

2. you can't go wrong sending any of those three for a summer camp audition. They are all good and show far above average ability for a young student both technically and musically.

3. they're not counting out of tune notes - this isn't a competition nor a major orchestra audition, so I don't think it matters whether you played a "wrong note" in the saint saens. who cares?

4. I hate the reverb effect in your Mozart. Sounds awful. if you really want FX, there are cheap people on fiverr you can send your audio feed to for processing.

5. You are auditioning for camp - it's FOR students. they expect you to make mistakes - of course you will - you're a student.

6. I'd personally send the Intro and Rondo Capriccioso and Bach if I had to pick two. I'd pick the intro and rondo if I had to pick one, although the Bach was more impressive - high schoolers that can play the saint saens intro and rondo are not that rare, but playing a bach fugue at a high level are very rare.. yet people always criticize mozart and bach excessively - you can never win.

7. why not send all 3?

8. suggestion: research the teacher you're applying for and see what repertoire they have recorded and perform often and specialize in and use that to guide decision.

great job!

January 9, 2026, 9:21 AM · 1. all 3 are extremely good

2. you can't go wrong sending any of those three for a summer camp audition. They are all good and show far above average ability for a young student both technically and musically.

3. they're not counting out of tune notes - this isn't a competition nor a major orchestra audition, so I don't think it matters whether you played a "wrong note" in the saint saens. who cares?

4. I hate the reverb effect in your Mozart. Sounds awful. if you really want FX, there are cheap people on fiverr you can send your audio feed to for processing.

5. You are auditioning for camp - it's FOR students. they expect you to make mistakes - of course you will - you're a student.

6. I'd personally send the Intro and Rondo Capriccioso and Bach if I had to pick two. I'd pick the intro and rondo if I had to pick one, although the Bach was more impressive - high schoolers that can play the saint saens intro and rondo are not that rare, but playing a bach fugue at a high level are very rare.. yet people always criticize mozart and bach excessively - you can never win.

7. why not send all 3?

8. suggestion: research the teacher you're applying for and see what repertoire they have recorded and perform often and specialize in and use that to guide decision.

great job!

January 9, 2026, 7:19 PM · Why wouldnt audition evaluators care about intonation, especially at this level? A single error in an otherwise impeccable performance is one thing, but the overall intonation is slightly sketchy. Why lower the overall level, especially with that Sibelius anchoring the demonstrated technical ability?

January 9, 2026, 7:52 PM · Well, bless my tin ear, I listened to all of each piece. I couldn’t find a thing wrong with any of them, except maybe a little dip in the intonation of the Mozart piece around 7:25 or so.

Edited: January 9, 2026, 8:33 PM · Agreed. Not the Sain Seans. It exposes more weaknesses than shows ability. (Although the ability obviously exists)
The Bach is significantly better. It is somewhat monochrome so I might suggest choosing a performer that you love, sitting down with a score and noting all the dynamics, rubato, vibrato changes they do and then try to reproduce some or all of it. After a few days (week?) try with a different player. Really try to get into what they are doing and why and grapple with it.Enesco, for example, insisted that a basic guideline was that single note chunks are quiter an dless intense, two notes, level up, 3 notes even more.
Some people say this kind of work just breeds a mish mash of ideas that are not original but I disagree. Learning isd a process of copying and it is a surefire way to add more stylistic subtleties, ideas and techniques to your aresenal.
Best of luck,
Buri

Edited: January 10, 2026, 12:08 AM · When there are as many good students like this who audition for competitive major programs, sending a recorded audition submission that has obvious technical flaws is a huge mistake, especially when we have the ability to record multiple takes to ensure that one's playing is best represented.

We can all agree to commend the young player for their achievements in playing, while recognizing that there are high standards to meet for the music programs that they apply to. Those of us who are "in the thick of it" preparing students each year for these auditions are not raising these issues out of malice, but out of concern for the students' best outcomes.

January 9, 2026, 9:15 PM · Agree about choosing Bach.

No on Saint-Saens. It's a live recording, and while some adjudicators will notice that and have been forgiving of those types of flubs in the early minutes, the last page was too messy and made the student sound underprepared.

Edited: January 9, 2026, 11:24 PM · @Lydia perhaps for a student thing, not everything is about playing perfectly in tune. God forbid. not everyone is trying to win some ridiculous competition. not everyone is being compared. none of these high level teachers are going to say "little johnny missed that note in bar 38, so we won't pick him". it's about who is the best match for their program, not who hit the most notes. my other question - if the teacher adjudicating this is deciding based on that factor - why on earth would the kid want to study with such an asshole teacher?

with that said, if you want your selling point to be "perfection":

record violin and piano separately in a studio and then when you receive the audio stems, find someone that will melodyne them and snap them to the grid. Indonesians on Fiverr can likely do it for less than $100. the sound will be perfect.

this thread reminds me of why I try to stay away from classical music as much as possible.. you guys are just so square and cringe.

January 9, 2026, 11:32 PM · try harder...

January 10, 2026, 12:30 AM · Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I find Saint Sean Introduction and Rondo is much harder to learn than Sibelius 1st movement. I do enjoy listening to it a lot more than Sib - maybe because Sib was done during a recording session so the playing was a bit flat or perhaps it requires an orchestra (although Hilary Hahns did a session without piano or orchestra and it sounded great!)

Bach, Rondo, and Mozart were recorded during a performance. Sib (posted in the other thread) was the 2nd recording in a session.

@Monty, Mozart didn't have any special effect on it. It was recorded during a competition: the piano was really far from the violinist, and the violinist was really far from the recording. I zoomed in as much as I can but it likely led to the reverb effect. I also subscribed to your Instagram, I really enjoy your electric violin play. My son is a free spirit kid so he loves solo performance in front of audience and chamber music. Maybe one day he can play the electric violin… I asked him to buy one and he refused so far.

@Lydia/Mary/Gene/Maurizio/Stephen/Frieda: thank you for your comments! Hard to ask him to practice slow and fix small details when he has only 1 hour a day to practice - grade 11 IB = loads of work. If he decided to go for music and lucky enough for a professor to accept him then hopefully he can take the time to focus on accuracy. His teacher has mentioned that he is gifted with the musicality aspects but will need much more work on accuracy.

@Paul Deck, thanks for your suggestion… I missed that Rondo is romantic style so regardless of quality we cannot submit it alongside Sibelius.

@Nickie: thank you for your encouragement at every posts. We are lucky to have you in this forum!

January 10, 2026, 2:14 AM · Being methodical invests practice time in the future. It is much harder to raise something to performance level if it's been learned sloppily. You end up investing far more time than if you'd learned it meticulously in the first place.

January 10, 2026, 8:25 AM · Thanks Liz.
Monty, that reminds me a preacher who once said, to someone complaining about all the sinners in church, “if they were perfect, they wouldn’t need to be here. I’m so glad you are, so you don’t have to.”

Edited: January 10, 2026, 1:24 PM · Instead of using a very vibrant, passionate, live "works in progress" concerto performance for her summer program applications last year, my daughter insisted on recording a rather boring but more polished version to send. Intonation and the tough parts were all fine in the live recording, but it didn't come across as effortless, and with the nerves and a fairly large outdoor audience, she started to come in early in one spot...did not affect the musicality of the performance, but she insisted that it was a fatal mistake for the reviewers, for two high level chamber music programs for conservatory kids.

Turns out she was right, at least she was accepted and attended both programs. Although I'd much rather listen to the live version.