What is Audition Playbook?

It started simply as that — a workbook for audition preparation.

To be honest, I just wanted to create a repeatable template for myself.

I was starting to gain traction in orchestra auditions and getting super organized with my prep — think Leslie Knope-level charts and binders — but I felt like I was reinventing the wheel each time a new audition came up. New charts, new binders, new plans. I wanted a consistent framework I could build upon instead of starting from scratch.

So I created an audition workbook just for me — a simple set of preparation tools I could use again and again. I wasn’t planning to ever share it. It lived in my own brain (and binder) for a while. But with a little nudging from my mentors, I released the first edition of Audition Playbook in 2018.

Seven years later, I’m honored (and still a little surprised!) that the book has helped so many musicians organize their own processes for auditions and performances.

It’s since evolved into a growing resource hub.

When it first launched, I built a rough one-page website in the hopes that someone (anyone?) would buy this book that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to share with the world.

But then I started interviewing folks “in the biz” and writing articles. That’s when I realized Audition Playbook could be — and was already becoming — something more. Beyond scratching a newfound creative itch, I found real joy in connecting with musicians about their experiences. Not just as audition-takers, but as freelancers, military bandsmen, students, teachers, meme-makers, side hustlers — you name it.

This site now has more than one page (thank you very much) and features a growing collection of interviews, articles, and free resources — all designed to support musicians at every stage of the journey — whatever that journey may be.