on one hand, the boston symphony's jim markey has had an objectively amazing career. he's held a handful major american jobs:

• pittsburgh symphony principal trombonist,


• NY philharmonic associate principal trombonist,


• NY phil bass trombonist,


• and his current job, bass trombonist with the bso.

but it wasn't always like that. just like the rest of us, jim has struggled through disappointment and negative audition results.

...there was the one time when he peaked too soon for the north carolina audition.

...or the time when the LA phil audition "just didn't feel right" and he didn't play to win.

jim's audition journey started when he was 19, and he's learned something at every audition. even when he loses, he finds hope in the simple act of figuring out what to do differently next time. these learning experiences have allowed him to reach the highest echelons of american orchestras.

in today's episode, he goes over his audition journey, his preparation process, and the advanced audition strategies he used to win his jobs.

thanks to darya for her awesome question about staying motivated! 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