sharon sparrow, flutist in the detroit symphony, wrote the book on audition prep.

literally. it's called 6 weeks to finals, and it's the only book out there, i think, that walks you through a step-by-step guide to preparing for an orchestra audition.

it feels empowering to know that there's not some magical sorcery behind winning an audition. nope: there's a clear, step-by-step strategy that anyone can follow. and it works: it's exactly how she prepared for and won her audition for the detroit symphony, and many of her students have won auditions using the same process.

i was lucky enough to speak with her about audition preparation for today's podcast. 

you'll learn:

• how she won her job at the age of 35 while taking care of two toddlers,


• 3 things that can earn you more yes votes from the orchestra committee, and


• how to break down mental practice into 3 essential components.

thanks to matthieu from canada for his great question! if you want to ask a question to be answered on a future episode, go to robknopper.com/ask.

and to learn the 5-step audition preparation process i used to win my met opera audition, download the audition cheat sheet at robknopper.com/auditioncheatsheet.