One Wrong Note Can Win the Audition
By Drew Holmes
My city has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality pizza. Being from the east coast, I have had my share of New York style pies, the slices you fold over and eat with one hand. My boys love not only pizza, but also garlic knots drenched in butter. To get a delicious pizza and proper garlic knots locally there is only one choice — Blocky’s.
Last week I saw a video posted to Blocky’s Facebook page that caught my attention. Chris Talarico, the owner, was talking about cheese and how the product he uses makes for a better pizza. The content of the video was fantastic and engaging, and I knew that with a few tweaks to production it could be next level.
Over the last few years, I’ve been making videos for the store to not only entertain and inform, but also to give a glimpse behind the scenes of the things we do. My ability to quickly record and edit quality content has improved at lightning pace. With what I have learned through trial and error (and watching way too much TV), I was confident that I could help Chris take his video content to the next level.
Then the doubt set in — am I the right person to do this? I have done this for me, knowing what my goal is as the client, but can I bring someone else’s vision to life? Should I get involved?
In high school I earned the opportunity to audition for the Massachusetts All-State Band, a great honor for any student musician. The audition consisted of demonstrating knowledge of scales, sight reading, and a solo — the Haydn Trumpet Concerto.
Like nearly every high school student, I prepared this piece on my usual Bb trumpet and not an Eb instrument as would be customary for a professional soloist. For most of the concerto this is not a problem, but the middle of the first movement contains a highly technical part that culminates in a written high Eb above the staff. Most high school trumpet players have a range up to high C, or maybe D. This is even higher.
I was intimidated by that note from the first time I saw the concerto. The publisher, recognizing how demanding this passage is, offered an ossia, an alternative passage down one octave and well within the reach of any player taking the audition.
As I waited in the hall outside the audition room for my turn to play for the judges I listened to the player before me. When he reached the passage with the high Eb he opted for the ossia and missed the note, even though it was down the octave.
In that moment I decided. Though I had never successfully played a high Eb, I was going to try. I needed to set myself apart in this audition and having the person before me take the easier route and not get it right meant the stage was set for me to do something special.
When I reached the technical passage, I was ready. As I ascended the run to the high Eb I gave it everything I had. And missed. Spectacularly. I played that passage with such poise and confidence that I even convinced myself that I could have hit the note, I just didn’t that time. That audition earned me third chair in the All-State band, an honor I am still proud of today.
Deciding to once again try the uncomfortable thing, I sent a message to Chris and briefly explained that I wanted to help and what I had in mind. We have spoken on the phone and are planning to meet to see what is possible with his vision and my skill set.
I do not know where this will lead, but I feel like I must try. Times have been hard these last few years and Blocky’s is a small business much like mine that has been trying to do whatever they can to be here in our community. Our city is better for Chris being there doing what he does, so offering to help is the right thing to do.
We learn at the margins, at the edge of our comfort zones. No one can know where it will lead but taking that first step is the most crucial part to fulfilling our potential. Sometimes that means taking a chance and offering to create a video for a restaurant that makes amazing pizza and garlic knots. And sometimes it is a wrong note played exactly the right way.