my first day at interlochen summer camp, i was placed dead last in the lowest orchestra.

BOOM. a gut punch, right at the beginning of camp. 

the great percussionists of the world had gone through interlochen. chris lamb. scott stevens. greg zuber. based on my orchestra placement, it was clear to me that i was NOT one of them. i was just an inexperienced doofus from rural michigan, and a minor character in the inspirational story of other people becoming great and legendary percussionists.

it created a chemical imbalance in my brain, which caused me to completely transform my life. it’s where i learned to live like an audition winner. 

it was the beginning of my 9 year journey towards winning a full time position in the metropolitan opera orchestra.

and today i want to help you understand exactly what needs to transform in your life to also become a future audition winner. 

it’s episode #6 of the auditionhacker podcast, and i’m going over: 

• the legendary and now-defunct practice of challenges, 


• adopting the olympian mindset as a musician, and 


• the most accurate indicators of future audition success. 

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.

Editing by Delia Black

Theme Music: Log Cabin Blues by George Hamilton Green, performed by Rob Knopper (xylophone) and Howard Watkins (piano). Editing and mixing by Brandon Johnson.