A rehearsal letter can identify the right passage and still leave you with the wrong stopping point. Before adding fingerings or recording takes, make a small pack that records exactly which part, movement and cut the audition requires. It should be possible to check those decisions without searching through old downloads.
The finished pack needs three things: the organiser's current instructions, a readable working copy of each required excerpt, and one sheet connecting every excerpt to its source and boundaries. A PDF reader or paper folder is enough; no paid notation software is required. You will need to read the relevant clef and bar/rehearsal markings, with your teacher's help where needed.
Start with one current list
Our worked example is the violin list for NYO-USA's 2027 application, checked on 27 September 2026. This is a youth-orchestra application, not a professional orchestra vacancy. Carnegie Hall's application page gives an application deadline of 3 December 2026 and includes requirements beyond these excerpts.
Open the official instrument list and its four-page violin excerpt PDF together. The following manifest records the supplied PDF's page order. It is a locator for that particular pack, not a universal violin audition list.
| PDF page | Work and movement | Requested span | Check in the part |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brahms, Symphony No. 2, I | Rehearsal E to F | Use the red start/stop brackets in the supplied excerpt. |
| 2 | Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 4, I | Opening through bar 51 | Keep the opening rests and the supplied final bar. |
| 3 | Mozart, Symphony No. 39, IV | Opening to the downbeat of bar 41 | The stopping point is the downbeat, not all of bar 41. |
| 4 | Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5, I | Rehearsal 9 to 12 | The page identifies Violin I; its bowing suggestions are optional. |
The supplied pages do not identify the underlying editions by publisher and edition number. Record that as “edition not identified; organiser-supplied 2027 PDF”. There is no need to guess an edition from the engraving or replace the supplied part with a familiar anthology.
Keep the source separate from the working copy
Give the pack a name that includes the organisation, season and instrument. This simple folder structure keeps an untouched reference beside your annotations. The date means the day you saved the instructions, not the date the orchestra last revised them.
- 01 · Source
- Official list URL, saved instructions, original excerpt PDF, checked 27 September 2026
- 02 · Working parts
- Readable copies with your own start/stop marks, fingerings and page choices
- 03 · Preparation sheet
- Source page, unresolved question, next check and dated run-through
For your own audition, the source record should include the instrument and chair or part number, the movement, edition if specified, page, and complete endpoint instruction. “Three bars before K” belongs in the record in full. So do instructions about repeats, a pickup, a particular voice, or an auxiliary instrument.
For a transposing instrument, add the part's printed instrument/key and the instrument you intend to use. A conductor's concert-pitch score is not automatically a replacement for the requested player part. Resolve a mismatch with the audition contact before transposing or substituting anything. The violin example above needs no transposition.
When a different edition moves a rehearsal mark or numbers a pickup differently, compare the actual musical passage rather than assuming a matching bar number proves a match. If the organiser's written list and PDF disagree, send the contact both locations and ask which endpoint governs. Keep the answer with the source instructions.
Make the cut readable at the stand
Mark the first note or rest and the precise stopping point on your working copy. Use a small bracket outside the staff so an accidental, articulation or dynamic stays visible. A highlighted rehearsal letter alone does not tell you whether to finish that bar.
The Mozart example is a useful check: stopping on the first beat of bar 41 and playing through bar 41 are different cuts. Practise the requested ending itself, including the release, so the last page does not tempt you into an extra phrase.
Check the copy at the size and distance you will actually use. Keep the clef, key signature, tempo, relevant dynamics and the context needed to understand rests. If a crop removes an instruction from the preceding system, retain that context rather than squeezing the excerpt onto one attractive page. Our readable-score layout post is useful when you are preparing notation you are entitled to edit; do not re-engrave an audition excerpt merely to make its appearance uniform.
Keep supplied music in the personal preparation use allowed by its source. A pack available for audition preparation is not permission to repost its pages publicly or distribute a class anthology. You can share the official link with a teacher instead. For collaborative markings, agree which copy is the current version before notes start moving between files.
Use a preparation sheet that can stay unfinished
A piece title with a tick beside it hides several different jobs. This ledger separates identification from playing. Copy it into a document or notebook, leaving the final column blank until you have actually played the requested cut.
| Excerpt / source page | Boundary check | Next task or question | Dated complete run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brahms / 1 | Checked by: _____ | _____ | Date / take / note: _____ |
| Mendelssohn / 2 | Checked by: _____ | _____ | Date / take / note: _____ |
| Mozart / 3 | Checked by: _____ | _____ | Date / take / note: _____ |
| Shostakovich / 4 | Checked by: _____ | _____ | Date / take / note: _____ |
Keep next tasks concrete: “confirm the final note with the teacher,” “count the opening rests aloud,” or “try the page at recording distance.” A full run can reveal something still needing work; its date is evidence of a run, not a readiness rating.
If you already use our app, Practis collections can group the repertoire, with piece notes carrying the movement and cut. Keep the official source record alongside that organisation. A collection title should be specific enough to distinguish this application from last year's programme.
Before the recording or audition
Reopen the official instructions and check for revisions. Open the actual working files on the device or stand you will use. For each excerpt, point to the first event, the final event and any repeat instruction before playing.
Then make one uninterrupted pass through each requested cut. Check the saved recording against the manifest, including its opening and ending, before deciding which takes to submit.
