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Thread: US Navy Music Program holding auditions at 2010 ITEC

  1. #1
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    US Navy Music Program holding auditions at 2010 ITEC

    Just read this on TubeNet a little while ago...

    The United States Navy is excited to announce that representatives of the Navy Music Program will be at the 2010 ITEC conference, conducting auditions for 7 or more tuba openings in U.S. Navy Bands around the world. Conference host Dr. Kelly Thomas and ITEA president David Zerkel have graciously allowed us to come and offer this opportunity to audition qualified applicants. We will be at the conference starting Monday night, May 24th. We will conduct as many auditions as possible on Tuesday, May 25th, and more if needed on the morning of the 26th.
    Full thread:

    It's not for THE Navy Band in Washington, DC - but this is still an great opportunity to play at a high-skilled level for pay. One of the tuba players in our community band played was in a few Navy bands around the world and really loved the experience.
    Rick Floyd
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    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
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  2. US Navy Music Program holding auditions at 2010 ITEC

    I'm a euph player in Navy Band Northwest (just outside Seattle) and I have to say, this is a great opportunity for tuba players (or any musician for that matter). It's true that this is not an audition for the DC band, but all of the Navy bands are full of fantastic musicians. One of the things that set the navy band program apart from the similarly structured army and marine band programs is that my one and only job in the navy band is to be a musician. No rifle and weapon qualifications like they do in the army and marines, no deployments to iraq or afghanistan, etc... The only thing I do everyday when I go to work is practice, play in a few ensembles, take care of my collateral duties (right now i'm a music librarian...) and then go home. The medical benefits are fantastic, you get paid MUCH better than the average "freelance musician", and overall life is great. If you want to be a professional musician but don't want to wait around for the next orchestra or DC band audition, the navy music program is the way to go!

    Sorry if I seem a bit biased... but, I am! (I love my job)

    One of the reasons that the Navy music program is holding these auditions is because the navy bands are in the midst of restructuring their band program (not downsizing, if anything it is more of an expansion) and the restructuring has created a need for more tuba players in the band. Sadly even though there were several new tuba billets created in some of the bands the number of euphonium billets remained exactly the same as it is now (but there is still one opening for a euph player in the program). However, one advantage for any euphonium players who enter the program in the future is that there is no longer any instrument doubling requirements. so those pesky required trombone skills that kept many fantastic euphonium players away from the navy music program in the past are now long gone.
    Gregory E. Lopes
    Euphonium player
    US Navy Band Great Lakes
    US Navy Music Program, 2009-Present

    Besson Prestige 2052

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