Auditions play an important role in the training and development of a musician. While every care is taken to seat students fairly, based on their audition, it is important to recognize that auditions are, by nature, subjective and that there is no perfect system for evaluating students. Audition outcomes are in no way intended to discourage students or to belittle their efforts.  Auditions judge a player’s abilities on a given day but are not meant as a judgment of a student’s character or as a way of assigning their relative value within the organization. The SYS conducting staff endeavors to reward hard work and to value each student’s contribution to the organization and the musical product. 

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Wind/Brass Seating
If there is more than one woodwind or brass player per part, the following seating order will be observed:  Principal 1st (#1 rank), Principal 2nd (#2 rank), Assistant Principal 1st (#3 rank), Assistant Principal 2nd (#4 rank).  In certain exposed soloist passages, the assistant principals may be asked to not play for artistic and/or balance reasons.

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Missed Auditions
If a member is unable to participate in a scheduled seating audition, an audio or video-recorded audition must be emailed to the SYS OFFICE at info@spokaneyouthsymphony.org at least one day prior to the audition day. The musician must understand that the recording may carry less weight than a live audition. You will be notified by email when your recording has been received by the SYS office. Students who miss a seating audition and do not provide a recording will likely be seated at the back of the section for that concert and rehearsal series.

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Performance Standards
If a member does not appear to be meeting performance, leadership or behavioral standards, the director may reassign seating.

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All seating decisions are final and at the conductor’s discretion.