<p>my first day at interlochen summer camp, i was placed dead last in the lowest orchestra.</p> <p>BOOM. a gut punch, right at the beginning of camp. </p> <p>the great percussionists of the world had gone through interlochen. chris lamb. scott stevens. greg zuber. based on my orchestra placement, it was clear to me that i was NOT one of them. i was just an inexperienced doofus from rural michigan, and a minor character in the inspirational story of <em>other</em> people becoming great and legendary percussionists.</p> <p>it created a chemical imbalance in my brain, which caused me to completely transform my life. it’s where i learned to live like an audition winner. </p> <p>it was the beginning of my 9 year journey towards winning a full time position in the metropolitan opera orchestra.</p> <p>and today i want to help you understand exactly what needs to transform in <em>your</em> life to also become a future audition winner. </p> <p>it’s episode #6 of the auditionhacker podcast, and i’m going over: </p> <ul> <li>the legendary and now-defunct practice of challenges,  </li> <li>adopting the olympian mindset as a musician, and </li> <li>the most accurate indicators of future audition success. </li> </ul> <p>to learn the 5-step audition preparation process i used to win my met opera audition, download the audition cheat sheet at <a href="https://www.robknopper.com/audition-cheat-sheet">robknopper.com/auditioncheatsheet</a>.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Editing by Delia Black </p> <p>Theme Music: Log Cabin Blues by George Hamilton Green, performed by Rob Knopper (xylophone) and Howard Watkins (piano). Editing and mixing by Brandon Johnson. </p>