Audition Requirements

Following feedback from our Youth Council, the audition excerpts are now freely available on our website.

Things to consider when preparing your excerpts:

• Take time to learn about the background of each work
• Listen to an orchestral recording of the work to hear your part played in context
• Look carefully at tempo, dynamic and articulation markings, and consider them when preparing each excerpt. Metronome markings are provided as an indication
• Bear in mind that the excerpts are of varying difficulty. A difficult excerpt should not dishearten younger or less experienced players—play it more slowly if necessary
• Seek the guidance of your instrumental teacher in preparing your excerpts
• Applicants will be assessed on a range of technical and musical elements, including:
• Accuracy (intonation, rhythm and articulation)
• Musicality (dynamics, phrasing and sensitivity)
• Tone quality (timbre and beauty of sound)

All instrumental applicants (except percussion, timpani and auxiliary instruments) are required to perform a short piece of their own choice without an accompanist. Applicants are not required to present complete works—a carefully selected passage of a longer piece is acceptable. Applicants are strongly advised to check the selection of their piece with their instrumental teacher.

Please choose a work, or section of a work, which:

• Demonstrates your technical proficiency
• Emphasises your musicianship
• Presents contrasting musical material
• Is no more than 5 minutes in length

Wind instrument applicants are encouraged to audition on their respective doubling instrument(s) as well as their primary instrument. Accepted auxiliary instruments include piccolo, cor anglais, Eb clarinet, bass clarinet and contrabassoon.

A separate set of excerpts is available for each auxiliary instrument. An own choice piece is not required for auxiliary instruments.

If you do not have access to your auxiliary instrument, please contact us for assistance.

Once you have prepared the music, you will be required to make audio-visual recordings of your audition. For ease of recording and uploading, the following elements are required to be recorded as separate videos:

• Orchestral excerpts (to be recorded in order, in one take)
• Own choice piece (if required)
• Auxiliary instrument orchestral excerpts (if required)
• Videos should be in landscape orientation and should be at a minimum resolution of 720p in one of the following file formats: MP4 or MOV. If you don’t have access to a video camera, many mobile phones are able to achieve these technical requirements.

• The applicant should be visible in shot from head to toe and filmed in an enclosed room with good lighting and minimal background noise.

When your recordings are complete, you must upload them to the myAYO Portal. Before uploading, take a moment to ensure you feel that the video recordings are a good representation of your instrumental ability. Once you have submitted your audition, AYO will not accept revisions except in exceptional circumstances.

We recommend submitting before the due date to avoid any last-minute issues. If you are having trouble submitting your audition, contact AYO on 1300 668 500.

All audition recordings are collected and stored internally for the sole purpose of assessing the outcome of your application to AYO’s 2025 programs. These recordings are strictly confidential and will only be viewed by the AYO audition panel and the AYO artistic team. Your recording will be retained on file for two years once received.

Tuesday, 30 July 2024 – strings applicants

Thursday, 1 August 2024 – all other instruments

To ensure that all applicants are assessed fairly and equitably, all auditions of the same instrument will be assessed by the same panel. The audition panels are composed of experienced musicians, teachers and professionals from the music industry who are skilled in assessing instrumental auditions.

The results of your audition are confidential and will not be discussed outside the AYO audition panel and AYO artistic team, nor will they be made available to any other organisation.

The audition panelists for AYO’s 2025 auditions are as follows:

• Michael Brooks-Reid, violin
• Edwina George, violin
• Jane Piper, violin
• Yi Wang, violin
• Sally Clarke, viola
• Robert Ashworth, viola
• Pei-Sian Ng, cello
• Michelle Wood, cello
• Young-Hee Chan, double bass
• Rohan Dasika, double bass
• Meg Stirling, flute
• Lloyd Hudson, flute
• Nick Deutsch, oboe
• Ceclia Craig, oboe
• Ben Mellefont, clarinet
• Philip Arkinstall, clarinet
• Justin Sun, bassoon
• Chloe Turner, bassoon
• Jenna Breen, horn
• Lin Jiang, horn
• Tetsuya Lawson, trumpet
• Jenna Smith, trumpet
• Shannon Pittaway, trombone
• Antonio Neilley-Menendez de Llano, tuba
• Robert Cossom, percussion
• Alex Timcke, timpani
• Andrea Lam, piano
• Stefan Cassomenos, piano
• Jessica Fotinos, harp
• Delyth Stafford, harp