Audition- Substantial contemporary work

[ahinton]

It is a waste to learn a piece only to play it once.

Then at the risk of sounding discouraging to you (which I am not seeking to do, by the way), it will be a waste of your time to pursue a career as a pianist, whatever your talents may be, because pianists (and others) are frequently asked to prepare and play works that they're never asked to perform again, just as composers are commissioned to write works that often receive only a single performance; this may indeed be a pity, but it's the way things are, I'm sorry to have to tell you!

Best,

Alistair

[tnk78]

Alistaircrane4 and anfieldstuff
I'd back AHinton.
Check this at 17:50 - 19:50. 

From a man with a career as a touring musician.

If you as a professional musician do not play pieces simply because you don't like them. It's a spoiled attitude which means you will not be offered many recitals now and even fever in the future. My experience albeit from a different field is that working on the things that are the furthest from what you like are the things that'll help you uncover new aspects of your talent and help you leap to a higher level (instead of being stuck in your ways).

Why not think out of the box in terms of audition? As much as I like Debussy, Scriabin, Shoshtakovich, Rachmaninoff (and I really do) the best way to blow someone away is to play something they do not know well and have certain expectations about. That's the optimal situation for you as a performer trying to stick out in their minds.

Would Muczynski's Toccata qualify as contemporary (in your opinions). Have no idea if it's overplayed in the US. with him being an American and all. I've recently taken up piano again and stumbled over his name online and quite like this piece.