I’m a senior in High School and I desperately need help picking a violin concerto to play. I have never had lessons before and I’ve never played a concerto before so I’m pretty inexperienced but I can handle something with difficulty because I made a pretty decent chair at all state. So can anyone give me a suggestion for a concerto that is difficult enough for college auditions but not to difficult? I’m thinking of playing accolay violin concerto would that be good?
Update:
Okay people I didn’t ask for your opinion about weather you think I can make it or not, I really don’t care about what you think concerning that matter. I already know my chance ar much smaller compared to people that have been taking private lessons for a long time and I DO have a back up plan, but just because the odds are not in my favor doesn’t been I’m not goana try my best because I do have a immense passion for music and I don’t want to have any regrets later one in life. So please if your not Tiananmen pitch an idea as to what concerto would be cool to play don’t post here.
Update :
*going to
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Ok – I waited a bit for Lainiebsky to answer first, since she is one of our resident EXPERTS of strings here. But – if you NEVER HAD LESSONS, then I would think that there are such huge holes in your technique and (obviously) knowledge of literature, that you would not be a successful candidate for most decent music schools. Getting a decent chair in AS is hardly a measure – OK, you got in, but some states will take just about anyone, from a wide rage of school grades, and some states will take only juniors and seniors, through a very competitive audition system. If you told us you got concertmaster without any lesson – we would either think that you are incredible, or that your state has a weak program – sorry. (I have been an AS judge here in NY – woodwinds.)
You need to get with a really fine private teacher NOW, and see what they say about your current state of playing, etc., as well as what your realistic chances are for acceptance into a decent school.getting into a weak school is useless – you will never then get into a strong grad school, and your eventual job prospects will be severely limited. Only the person who HEAR you and teaches you can make these assessments. With so little background – WHY do you think you can make a major and then a career of this??
If you have left out TONS of info (after dropping the bomb that you have no private teacher EVER, and have never played a concerto . . ) then tell us – because this does not sound promising from what YOU have written. By all means, continue to play, and in whatever college you go to, and whatever your REAL major is (other than music) you can still play in an ensemble or orchestra there – but a major does not sound realistic.
Added – being ATTITUDINAL to both of the good responses here just shows immaturity and lack of confidence. You came here ( of all places!) to ask about WHAT to play – when you clearly are nowhere NEAR ready to do this. If you want to beat yourself up and go through the whole audition process, knowing that you are never going to be accepted, then that is your own self-abuse. But if you want to DO WELL – then listen to the advice you have been given! GET A TEACHER – they will hear you, fix you, teach you, and PREPARE you for an audition. We cannot name A Magic Piece that will get you in. We have never heard YOU play one note – but since I have taught and adjudicated THOUSANDS of students in my career, I think that my advice – like that of the other responder is valid. If you want to just stick you fingers in your ears and sing LA LA LA LA – I cannot HEAR YOU! You will fail. Stubborn, clueless people always do. You do not want ADVICE – you just want people to suck up and AGREE with you. Not gonna happen here – not from experts – from children, maybe – but not from professionals. The humble succeed – the arrogant, fail.
Source(s): Full-time teacher and professional musician for over years. Retired from my school position, still teaching privately and performing.
Just to echo and emphasize the previous response. You don’t go asking on the internet for advice on what to play for your audition. You ask your private teacher. Your teacher is the person most familiar with your abilities, and what kind of repertoire will make you sound your best at the audition. If you don’t have a teacher then you need to get one NOW to stand a chance against the people who’ve had lessons literally since they were years old.
No one here on the internet has ever heard you play. Maybe you’re from NY where all-state is insanely competitive, maybe you’re from Wyoming where nearly everyone who auditions gets in.
As to your audition, if you’re only now thinking about this it may already be too late, make sure you check the websites of each school to make sure you meet their audition requirements, some school want specific pieces, some give you more freedom to choose. Most people who will get in have already figured out their audition repertoire and have been working on it for some time.
This is not intended to discourage, only to be realistic from the perspective of someone who’s been thru the process.
EDIT:
Let’s be realistic here: I went to conservatory for undergraduate and grad school. In undergrad there were about incoming freshman each year, in my four years there I met exactly one student who didn’t have a private teacher, that one student was a self-taught electrical engineer who worked with live electronics as a composer. In grad school exactly zero of my fellow students didn’t have a private teacher before school. Most music schools have a spot on the application for private teacher, and leaving it blank sticks out.
If all you’re looking for is neat piece to play the big violin concertos are:
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Beethovon op.
Saint-Saëns
Wieniawski
A few others of note:
Berg
Bartok
Mendelsohn E minor
Bruch op
Barber
Often times, the judges won’t hear the entire piece.
Mozart is a good concerto, I would say.