Five Steps to an Audition

Madison Lusby is a Junior at The Juilliard School School. She is the recipient of the Harry Aronson Scholarship and is a student of Raymond Mase. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy for her junior and senior year of high school studying with Ken Larson. Maddi has been invited to compete in the National Trumpet Competition multiple times. In 2014, Maddi traveled to Beijing and Shanghai with her Interlochen Arts Academy Brass Quintet to perform at the Shanghai Conservatory. The quintet also completed in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Maddi was selected for participation in the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. Following a residency at SUNY, NYO-USA toured the United States performing in world class venues including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and Ozawa Hall.

As a student at Juilliard, Maddi had the privilege of attending/playing in masterclasses with David Krauss, Ethan Bensdorf, Louis Hanzlick, Kevin Cobb, Phil Smith, and Chris Martin. She has performed under the baton of Fabio Luisi , Alan Gilbert, Jeffery Milarsky, ​Pablo Heras-Casado, ​Robert Moody, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Yaniv Dinur, and Allen Tinkham.

Maddi also performed with the New York Youth Symphony as principal trumpet on Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Maddi attended Sewannee Summer Music Festival and studied with Pete Bond of the MET Orchestra. She also attended The Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar, working with Sam Pilafian, Tom Bergeron, and Andrew Sord. Last summer she attended the Eastern Music Festival and studied with Jeff Kaye. Maddi is from Grapevine, Texas. She and her twin sister Sydney live in NYC during the school year.


1. Body:

Practicing healthy habits and keeping your body in shape can make a world of difference for your next audition. Eating a healthy balanced diet a few weeks or months leading up to an audition can help in many ways. When you feel and look confident it will show through your playing. Eating processed foods, drinking alcohol, and eating excessive sugar are sure to make you feel jittery and tired. In your audition you want to feel poised and confident. Another thing that will help you get your body ready for an audition is working out. I practice Bikram Yoga which is a yoga series practiced in the heat and provides a great rigorous workout while also working on my mind space. There are so many workouts and they are guaranteed to make you feel great and ready for your audition.  Continue reading

Five Tips On Preparing For Your Final Undergraduate Recital

This week’s Five Things Friday post was written by trumpet player Karlynn Charette! As the new school year approaches, we think these are great tips for undergrad students to keep in mind.

Karlynn Charette is a Canadian trumpet player who has been playing since the age of 12. She spent pretty well all of her time during her high school years in the band room and was inspired by her high school music teacher, Murray McNeely, to follow in his footsteps. Now 25 years old, she has been studying music at post secondary institutions in Kingston, Ontario, Canada at St Lawrence College from 2011-2013 in the music and digital media program. She graduated with an Ontario College Diploma. Currently she is finishing up her Bachelor of Music degree at Queen’s University majoring on Trumpet and will be graduating this spring 2019. Karlynn is planning on applying to teachers college and working towards becoming a high school music teacher. She currently works two part time jobs at a Canadian Charity called Joe’s Musical Instrument Lending Library and a retail store called Canadian Tire. She is involved in her University Wind Ensemble, the Queen’s University Chamber Orchestra and recently joined the Lasalle Adult Summer band. Karlynn recently completed her final year of trumpet lessons at the University with professor Dan Tremblay and she has written about her experience with tips and tricks on how to prepare for the recital day.

1. At least eight months in advance: Pick out your repertoire
You want to be as prepared as possible and feel comfortable with your repertoire. Continue reading

Five Things I’ve Come To Terms With While Pursuing a Freelance Tuba Career

Allison Lazur has explored various aspects of the arts, including work in the art of baking as well as life on stage as a performer. After obtaining a degree in the pastry arts from The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Allison baked for five years at various outlets throughout the tri-state area. She returned to school in 2011 to pursue life as a tubist, graduating with a degree in Tuba Performance from the Hartt School in West Hartford, CT.

Allison enjoys an active freelance career by performing with several groups including The New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, Smiling Rhino Theatre and Chatham, New Jersey’s Community Players. In March 2015, she premiered a tuba concerto with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra written by Charles Menoche at Central Connecticut State University. 

She is currently the instructor of tuba at Wesleyan University, while also keeping a small studio of private students. Her most recent endeavors include a 1920s Dixieland Jazz group, French 75, as well as currently being a member of the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra (HICO), which performs new music throughout the state of Connecticut.

1. Financially Filling in the Gaps
As a former pastry chef, promotional girl, retail worker, insurance biller and current journalist, I’ll admit I’ve worked several jobs unrelated to tuba to fill in the financial gaps. I’ve always struggled with the idea of dedicating focused time and energy to jobs unrelated to playing my horn. I have felt as though I was cheating on music by flirting with jobs that weren’t nearly as fulfilling as playing tuba, but paid the bills. I would dabble in one field, then switch to another and then another until landing in a profession I could tolerate or maybe even enjoy while also pursuing music. And I’ve decided this is okay! I have finally found a balance between having a steady, weekly paycheck and wholeheartedly continuing to pursue my tuba career. I’ve learned to accept that at the end of the day, as long as you’re pursuing your purpose, everything works out.  Continue reading

Interview with Sara McDonald

Sara McDonald is a vocalist/composer living in Brooklyn New York. She recently graduated from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music with a degree in vocal jazz. Soon after graduation she went on to perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and then headed to Germany to record this big band record. In February she was named the winner of the Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.


1. Tell us about your band the NYChillharmonic and what you have coming up!

The NYChillharmonic is a 22 piece progressive-indie-jazz ensemble that I write, arrange/sing for and lead. Continue reading

Five Things I Need When I’m Headed out The Door

JoAnn Lamolino is the Associate Principal Trumpet of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra following a successful national audition in February of 2018. She has performed with the Hawaii Symphony and the Honolulu Brass Quintet since the 2015-16 season. JoAnn is also a member of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in Reading, PA. For two seasons, she was a member of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in SC. Additional performance highlights include the Baltimore Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, American Ballet Theatre, State of Mexico Symphony in Toluca, MX, Czech Radio Symphony, Adele, Josh Groban, Taoramina Arte in Taoramina, Sicily, Spoleto USA,  and on Broadway shows. As a soloist, JoAnn has performed at the Trinity Concerts at One Series in Lower Manhattan, Bahamas Music Conservatory, RAI National Television of Italy, Charleston Symphony, throughout Europe with American Music Abroad and was a First Prize winner at the International Women’s Brass Conference.

JoAnn received a Bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a Master’s degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Principal teachers include members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.


Since I started playing with the Hawaii Symphony three seasons ago, I’ve learned a lot about performing well while my body clock is displaced by 5 or 6 hours. I primarily live on the east coast and make an average of 7-8 round-trips from New York to Honolulu per season. It can take anywhere from 9-11 hours of non-stop flight time or 10-13 hours with a stop. I’ve always enjoyed traveling a lot and dealing with all of the particulars that go along with it. When the opportunity arose for me to play in Hawaii, I was very excited for a lot of reasons. I’ve compiled a list of my 5 Things I need when I’m headed out the door.  Continue reading