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Thread: West Point Band Euphonium Vacancy

  1. #1

    West Point Band Euphonium Vacancy

    The U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point will soon have an opening for euphonium due to Jason Ham departing to go into full-time ministry.

    More information is here:

    http://www.usma.edu/band/SitePages/Vacancies.aspx

    On that page you will find a PDF of the announcement AND a PDF of the required music.

    Note that it says this:
    Packets must be RECEIVED by: December 2, 2015

    Here is the info from the flyer:

    Final Round: Monday, February 8, 2016

    Salary & Benefits:

    Annual salary $59,520 - $68,268 upon promotion to Staff Sergeant
    Full Military Benefits (Medical/Dental/Retirement Plans)
    30 Days Paid Vacation Yearly
    Tuition Assistance, & Post 9/11 GI Bill

    Application packets
    Include a resume with date of birth, cover letter, full-length photograph, and a high-quality un-edited audio CD
    or DVD, not more than six-months old, to include the following:

    1. Solo of your choice (with accompaniment preferred but not required).
    2. Festive Overture (Shostakovich, arr. Hunsberger) – Rehearsal 8 to Rehearsal 10.
    3. Colonial Song (Grainger) – Beginning to m. 12; mm. 21-29.
    4. Pineapple Poll (Sullivan/Mackerras) – mm. 5-26; mm. 63-94.
    5. Fantasia for Euphonium (G. Jacob) (Unaccompanied) – Beginning to 1 before D.
    6. Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa) – All, take second endings.


    Downloadable sheet music with specific cuts of the excerpts is available at westpointband.com
    Finalists will be asked to demonstrate basic proficiency on Tenor Trombone

    Primary Duties of this Position
    Perform Euphonium in the Concert and Marching Band, Tuba Quartet, and other Chamber Music groups.
    Additionally, this job position will supplement the Marching Band Trombone section on an as needed basis as well
    as perform other military duties. Additional consideration will be given to candidates with other marketable
    musical or non-musical skills that may be valuable in a large, self-produced military performing ensemble.

    General Information

    • The West Point Band performs concerts, ceremonies, and at athletic events for the U.S. Corps of Cadets.
      The ensembles perform at concert venues around the Greater Hudson Valley, New York City, and
      throughout the United States. The band also regularly performs at professional sporting events and has
      been featured in television specials for FOX News, CBS Sports, and HISTORY.
    • Military personnel should also submit their Enlisted Records Brief, three years of performance evaluation
      reports, Commander’s Intent to Release memo, and an Official DA Photo.
    • Employment is contingent upon meeting Army enlistment qualifications and a minimum four- year service
      contract.


    Submit Audition Materials to
    Concert Band Euphonium Audition
    Attn: Sergeant First Class Jeff Prosperie
    United States Military Academy Band
    685 Hardee Place
    West Point, New York 10996-1587
    Questions should be directed to: Staff Sergeant Philip Broome (philip.broome@usma.edu)
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  2. Folks,

    We have just a little over two weeks left to submit your tapes for our euphonium audition. Just wanted to send out a friendly reminder to have your packets/tapes in to us by December 2nd, NOT POSTMARKED!!

    In the past, we have had a number of packets filter in weeks after the postmarked date which makes it very difficult for us to meet our deadlines. So, whatever you have to do to make sure it makes it here by december 2nd, please do that. That way we can notify finalists in a timely manner. Good luck everyone and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions: philip.broome@usma.edu There are no stupid questions, especially when it comes to enlistment qualifications, etc. Looking forward to hearing some great recordings!

    My best,

    -Phil
    Philip Broome
    Principal Euphonium | Audio Engineer
    West Point Band - NY
    United States Military Academy


    www.philipbroome.com
    www.westpointband.com

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    The U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point will soon have an opening for euphonium due to Jason Ham departing to go into full-time ministry.
    Jason Ham is a very talented musician/euphonium player and a nice person. I wish him well in his new profession.

  4. #4
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    I just read on TubeNet that the panel has narrowed down the 50 applicants to 8 finalists for live auditions in February. Keith Kile posted the following feedback about the recordings:
    http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic....567710#p567710

    All,
    Thank you to everyone who submitted a recording to the West Point euphonium audition. The panel had some difficult decisions and long debates narrowing down the 50 submissions to the eight chosen semi-finalists. Congratulations to those who advanced, we look forward to seeing you at the live rounds in February.
    To those who have not been contacted yet, please know that many of you were very close to advancing. We know it can be frustrating to send a tape and not get any feedback, so if you would like some very brief comments and an idea of how your tape and resume were perceived by the panel, feel free to send me an email to keith.kile@usma.edu.

    A couple of general notes about the recordings sent:
    -The tapes that advanced were extremely good. Technical excerpts were clean and in time, lyrical excerpts were smooth and maturely phrased, and the quality of the recordings made them easy to listen to and easy to hear the great playing.
    -The tapes that advanced were clearly well-prepared and well-thought-out, and showed an understanding of the repertoire and role of the part being performed.
    -Solos were generally very well done and we enjoyed hearing your personalities come through. Thank you, all!

    Pitfalls of tapes that did not advance:
    -Festive Overture disqualified many tapes. Tapes that advanced had clean and even eighth notes, did not rush repeated notes, and established a clear tempo from the very beginning of the excerpt.
    -Colonial Song gave candidates the chance to show smooth section playing and long ideas with few “impulses” or swelling of individual notes within a phrase. It also was the only opportunity in the excerpts to show ensemble solo playing at rehearsal 21.
    -Candidates that advanced had very impressive recordings of Pineapple Poll and set a very high standard. Several candidates were pushed out of the advancing pile when this excerpt was compared back to back. Cleanliness on the opening is a given, but the tapes that stood out made it sound easy and didn’t have any notes that were ghosted or popping out. The second excerpt has some specific dynamic and phrase markings that were beautifully played on the best tapes.
    -Stars and Stripes was surprisingly nearly every tape’s worst excerpt. We had several candidates we were excited to advance until we got to an unacceptable Stars and Stripes. The difficulty of this march comes from performing exciting and long phrases while paying very close attention to markings and rhythms all while maintaining a constant tempo. Anecdotally, we were just looking for a solid S&S, played in a great march style that sounds easy and perfect... simple, right??

    A note on recording quality:
    -We were pleased with most of the tape qualities. When submitting a tape keep in mind that the panel WANTS you to succeed, but a large part of that requires them to want to hear your recording. Tapes that constantly clip or peak, are so distant we can’t hear cleanliness, or that couldn’t accurately represent a good characteristic euphonium sound just couldn’t be advanced. There were too many really good tapes to spend lots of time inches from the monitor listening for cleanliness or sound quality.

    Thank you again for all of the wonderful submissions, and again feel free to contact me at keith.kile@usma.edu for light individual comments or questions about the process we used.

    -Keith
    Last edited by RickF; 12-09-2015 at 09:48 PM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  5. #5
    Thanks, Rick! It is great to see that feedback. The comments help us all appreciate the quality that is necessary in today's auditions for some of these prime jobs.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    I was most surprised by the S+S comment. Maybe that's because a lot of us play it so much we've gotten sloppy with repeated performances.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  7. #7
    Note the he mentioned maintaining tempo as one problem area. The funny thing I was just listening to the video below last night and thinking about that particular concept:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBWs2EfwIwo

    This is not a very hard euphonium part, but it requires a lot of attention to keep that quick tempo going. You have to avoid stretching out the nice long lines, have to watch out for entrances after a rest, etc. Listen closely to the euph and other parts and I think you'll hear what I mean. This was 1991, and we did a pretty good job on this concert opener.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
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    The job was offered to Chris Leslie, doctoral student at UGA. Congratulations Chris!

    Euphonium Vacancy, West Point Band (TubeNet)

    Just wanted to announce if you have not already heard, we have offered the job to Chris Leslie, doctoral student at the University of Georgia and a student of Dave Zerkel. We couldn't be happier to have such an incredible player on board for many years to come. Please join me in congratulating Chris.

    Overall we were extremely happy with the level of playing both in the tape round and in the live round. There are some truly awesome euphonium players out there. Thanks again everyone for your submissions and especially to those who were invited to the live round. We enjoyed hearing all of you!

    -Phil
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  9. #9
    That's great news! Chris is a nice guy and very talented. He studied with me summers while he was at St. Olaf and it was very gratifying - he was quick to pick up technical stuff and just as quick to pick up even subtle musical points.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

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