Matt Heller’s Calgary Philharmonic Audition Story

Double bassist Matt Heller (New World Symphony, hellafrisch blog) just started a series of posts about his recent successful audition for the Calgary Philharmonic. Matt is a perceptive and compelling writer, and his tale is likely to be of interest for musicians of all disciplines.

There is a special kind of symmetry to Matt’s recent audition win given the New York Times piece by Dan Wakin earlier this year detailing Matt’s audition trials and tribulations. Getting to hear the behind-the-scenes details of Matt’s successful audition is even more interesting given this framework.

Click here to read Matt’s first installment of his Calgary Philharmonic audition story.

Click here to read an interesting post on Chicago Symphony Orchestra bassist Michael Hovnanian’s CSO Bass Blog about a letter that Matt had sent Micheal regarding these experiences.

Maybe someone put blogging juice into the Northwestern University drinking fountain earlier this decade. Michael Hovananian, Matt Heller, and I were all affiliated with this institution earlier this decade, and we all now have blogs!

2 Responses to “Matt Heller’s Calgary Philharmonic Audition Story”

  1. Thanks Jason! I just posted part 2, and I started it out with a little aside about your interview with Andy Anderson (I’m catching up with your podcast, slowly but surely, and enjoying every episode!)

    I really do want to give the same amount of detail and commentary about the Calgary audition that I gave to Dan Wakin about Buffalo. Of course, he’s a brilliant reporter and was able to frame that story in an elegant way, while my own posts might tend to sprawl a bit.

    Maybe as I move through the story though, I’ll find a more concise narrative voice. Thanks for the compliments, and for sipping so deeply from that blogging water fountain!

  2. I’ve really been enjoying reading your audition experiences. It’s great to hear the insider’s take, especially when that insider successfully bagged the gig.

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