FOR WHO?
The GUHO is an orchestra for everyone who studies in Ghent (including international students) and has reached the higher levels of their musical education, or an adequate level due to experience. If you want to become a member, you'll of course need to participate actively . That means being present at all rehearsals and our rehearsal weekend (which, by the way, is a blast)!
WHERE AND WHEN?
The GUHO rehearses every Monday of the academic semester from 20h00 till 22h00 in the 'Trechterzaal', on the highest floor of student center 'the Therminal' (Hoveniersberg 24, 9000 Gent).
At the start of the semester there are two open rehearsals. Upcomming semester, those rehearsals are on the 25th of September and the 2nd of October from 20h00 till 22h30, with a break. On these rehearsals, everybody is welcome.
Since the GUHO is a university student club, we follow the academic calendar of Ghent University. During university exam periods and the holidays, we don't rehearse. Every year, we give at least two concerts: at the beginning of December and May.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
If you made it all the way here: great! The GUHO cannot wait to welcome you to our orchestra. To keep the balance and quality of our orchestra intact, the GUHO follows a short, but mandatory selection procedure. This will take place on the 27th or the 28th of September.
What can you expect?
- An introductory conversation: during this short chat, we want to get to know you a little bit better, and we will gauge your motivation and experience on the one hand, and will ask you about your expectations on the other hand.
- An audition: you play a piece of your own choice and you will also recieve an part of a concert piece from us. You will have to play both pieces in front of a jury. The most important part of the audition is that you show us you are not afraid to play.
Every musician in the GUHO knows that an audition comes with some amount of stress . This is definitely not our intention! The auditions are primarily a tool for us to organise our orchestra and to preserve our musical balance. By the way, our audition and introductory conversation are attended by Dimitri, our conductor, and a couple of musicians of the GUHO - students just like you !
This year, we are looking for musicians playing almost any wind ensemble instrument. To preserve the balance and sound of our great wind orchestra, we are particularly searching for bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, double bass and bass tuba!
After the audition, we will decide if you can join GUHO. Important factors for this decision are motivation and engagement during the rehearsal and also the audition
I'M INTERESTED! WHAT NOW?
Awesome! First of all, you need to fill in our registration form . You can find it at the bottom of this page or here in a new tab. After that, we'll contact you ourselves at the e-mail address you provided in the form, and we'll let you know at what time we expect you for your introductory conversation and audition. Keep an eye on your mailbox and spam folder for this e-mail!
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The open rehearsals will take place on the 25th of September and the 2nd of October. Everybody is welcome on these rehearsals, but to ensure we have the right amount of sheetmusic, we would like to know how many musicians will be present. Therefore we ask to enlist via the forms. If you would like to do apply for GUHO, you can also enlist yourself via this form. More information, the date and time of you audition, will be send via mail. Be sure to check your spam-folder regularly for since the mail can end up there.
FAQ
First we welcome you at the entrance by the managing members. When it is your turn, you are brought to a room where the conductor plus two member musicians welcome you. You meet each other, you get some water, a chair etc. Then we proceed with a short conversation where we ask some small questions. A large part of these are rather informative, similar to the registration form. We ask what your expectations are for the GUHO, and then give our expectations. We can talk about how you got to know us, your motivation, your experience, your presence on the rehearsals... We are not there to ask difficult questions or make you look stupid, quite the opposite, we do everything possible to make you feel at ease.
Then follows the playing of your piece. Do you really have a lot of stress? Just tell us, we will take that into account! You will not receive any comments about your performance and end the conversation with a 'thank you'. This all will take no more than 10 minutes.
Finally, you join us with the rehearsal, where you just play with the rest of the orchestra. The decision to allow you in the orchestra follows shortly after the second open rehearsal by e-mail. Here we will give you a constructive reason if we did not accept you, typically due to balance in the instruments or motivation
As a student orchestra we completely understand that some student's agenda can be very filled and that you are worried about, e.g., not leaving enough time for your studies. But we find it important to form an active group, such that we can prepare ourselves optimally for the concert. It is also much more fun if as many people as possible are present. The most important thing is simply that you try your best to come, but if you for example need to go elsewhere, you are sick or have a big exam the next day, this is not a big deal! Cannot come to a rehearsal? Just contact our secretary by e-mail.
Certainly not! It is maybe confusing that our name contains University but everyone is welcome who does their higher education at a university or 'hogeschool' in Ghent.
This is not necessary. In Belgium, you only have to have reach the 'hogere graad', i.e., be in 4.1 or higher. Internationally, this translates to having at least 7 years of lessons at a music academy.
Definitely! We also organize auditions at that time. Ideal if you are still hesitating if your studies are too time-consuming, you only come to Ghent in the second semester or you discover GUHO after the deadline of the auditions.
Send us a quick e-mail to info@guho.be and we will see if we can still do something for you!
You are completely free to choose you piece, it does not matter that much. Ideally you pick something with which you are comfortable and are able to showcase different skills (technique, sound, ...). As the conversation and the audition take up less than 10 minutes, it is best to choose something that isn't too long.
As for other rehearsals, you try your best to come (also if your audition falls in the second week). If you cannot come due to force majeur, send an e-mail to secretaris@guho.be before the rehearsal (Monday at noon).
ANY QUESTIONS?
Do not hesitate to send an e-mail with your questions. We do not bite ;-)! You can contact us on info@guho.be.
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