You can’t please everyone.
If you play for yourself in the most convincing way you want to, that will come across best.
Few people win their first audition.
What matters is learning from each; don’t quit, and don’t repeat the same mistake twice. Eventually the right fit will find you.
Playing an auxiliary instrument makes you more marketable.
Your opportunities down the road will grow as a result.
Committees value conviction, hearing a sense of confidence and direction in phrasing.
When technical ability is equal, the person who brings more personality stands out.
ABOUT RYAN TOHER
Ryan is 2nd/E-flat Clarinet of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and was previously Acting 2nd/E-flat Clarinet of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He decided on a life in music while playing with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra before an audience of 25,000 in Millennium Park. He has since performed with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, among others, and won the 2018 Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition. A Buffet Crampon and Vandoren Artist, Ryan trained at Oberlin and USC and is a guest instructor at the Université de Montréal.
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