Joining Camerata Notturna

If you are a skilled instrumentalist with a sense of humor, ensemble experience and a passion for great music-making, we’d love to talk to you. As a 100% volunteer organization, we are equal opportunity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious belief, or whether you root for the Mets or the Yankees (or even the Red Sox). Our members are primarily working professionals in a diverse range of fields including academia, arts administration, banking, computer science, consulting, fashion, law, medicine, and music therapy.

We are a fun, collegial group that understands its members lead busy lives outside of the orchestra. But we also expect our members to attend rehearsals, practice their parts, and contribute to the group socially. Our priority is musical excellence, and we rehearse a lot – for each concert cycle, we usually schedule 7 full rehearsals plus a dress rehearsal on the day of a concert (always on Saturday evenings… allowing maximum freedom for the after-parties!). Rehearsals are typically Tuesday  evenings from 7:30–10:30, with one or two on the weekends. We are a small orchestra by design, focused on cultivating musical sensitivity and connection with each other and our amazing guest artists.

Joining us is pretty informal: we’d like to meet you, talk about your musical history, and hear you in a short audition. Admission is very competitive, given we’re a small group with limited openings, but we’d still like to hear from you! To request an audition, please use our Contact page to send us a message including your name, contact info, your “day job” and a brief history of your musical experience. We try to get to requests as soon as we can, but appreciate your patience.

Audition Guidelines & Requests

Violin

• A fast movement from one of the three major Mozart concertos (No. 3, 4 or 5)
• Either 1) a virtuosic showpiece (Sarasate, Wieniawski, Saint-Saëns, etc.), or 2) the first movement from a romantic concerto (no Bruch or Lalo please)

Viola

• Fast movement (i.e. Allegro or faster) of a classical concerto (Stamitz, Rolla), or the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata, or fast movement of Walton or Bartók concerto
• A Prelude or Gigue from Bach solo cello suites (preferably #4–6)

Cello

• First or third movement of either Haydn concerto or the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata; or the theme and first two variations of Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations.
• Either 1) one Prelude or Gigue from Bach solo cello suites (preferably #4–6), or 2) a substantial movement of a solo cello work by Crumb, Ligeti, Hindemith, Penderecki, or similar.

Winds, Brass and Double Bass

• A solo work of your choice from the standard repertoire for your instrument
• At least two excerpts from the standard orchestral repertoire of contrasting styles and demands

To request an audition, please use our Contact page.