Looking for tips on how to ace playing common excerpts found on orchestral audition lists?
Explore our excerpt library project learn from the pros. Check out these recordings of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians demonstrating and talking about these excerpts.
David Kim Concertmaster
Beethoven Symphony No. 9, third movement
Brahms Symphony No. 2, first movement
Mozart Symphony No. 39, fourth movement
Kimberly Fisher Principal Second Violin
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, fugue
Bruckner Symphony No. 9, third movement
Hai-Ye Ni Principal Cello (tutti excerpts)
Beethoven Symphony No. 5, second movement
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream, Scherzo
Brahms Symphony No. 2, second movement
Debussy La Mer
Hai-Ye Ni Principal Cello (solo excerpts)
Rossini Overture to William Tell
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, second movement
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake, cello solo
Shostakovich Symphony No. 1, fourth movement
Nathaniel West Acting Assistant Principal Bass
Mozart Symphony No. 40, first movement
Strauss Ein Heldenleben
Brahms Symphony No. 2, fourth movement
Jeffrey Curnow Associate Principal Trumpet
Musorgsky Pictures from an Exhibition, Promenade
Mahler Symphony No. 5, first movement
Stravinsky Petrushka (1947 version)
Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, first movement
Bach Mass in B minor, Credo in unum Deum
Off-Stage Excerpts:
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 (off-stage part) & Respighi Pines of Rome, second movement (off-stage part)
Anthony Prisk Trumpet
Bach Christmas Oratorio
Bach Magnificat
Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Brahms Academic Festival Overture
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, March
Gershwin An American in Paris
Mahler Symphony No. 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Strauss Don Quixote
Matthew Vaughn Co-Principal Trombone
Ravel Bolero
Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”)
Elizabeth Masoudnia English Horn
Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture
Falla The Three-Cornered Hat, Cadenza
Respighi Pines of Rome, fourth movement
Jennifer Montone Principal Horn
Beethoven Symphony No. 2
Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Beethoven Symphony No. 8
Elizabeth Hainen Principal Harp
Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra