<p>Not to scare applicants or to increase their anxiety level (which may already be at boiling point), but to reassure them (and perhaps forewarn them), here's the start of a list of things that can go wrong in the application/audition process. I'm sure almost everyone that has been through the process could add a few stories of their own.</p>
<ol>
<li> Missed deadlines (not always but sometimes fatal--some schools refuse to consider applicants that miss the deadline by a minute and I have heard of students missing the deadline due to time zone miscalculations!). Don't assume a fatality--call and politely inquire or beg. Better yet, apply early.</li>
<li> Missed flights/connections/blizzard-closed highways. Bad weather stories are legion and we have a couple. Again schools differ in their policies, but most will try to accommodate. Get there early, if you can--do the school/city visit the day prior to the audition.</li>
<li> Missed emails (spam blockers etc.; my etc. story is of a very well-known school whose email service cut off the last paragraph or two or three of its emails; these emails seemed strange to me, but so did much of the communication from schools that winter and so I only called after we got an email from them that ended mid-sentence; the school blamed my email provider, but I have never in 15 years of service with that provider had that happen before in thousands of emails from hundreds of sources and, while, the school did have a list of providers to be avoided, ours was not on the list! I was furious, but in the interests of maintaining good relations with the school, I did not vent my fury at them.)</li>
<li> Schedule changes (Music departments are not always the best organized places. At one audition, the secretary switched my son's audition time the morning of the audition, but neglected to tell him until he had missed his rehearsal time with the provided accompanist--they let him rehearse his 17-minute concerto movement for 3 disastrous minutes and start the audition late a few minutes late; the accompanist somehow transformed herself into a miracle between the 3-minute rehearsal and the onstage audition--i.e. she was a very quick learned and all went well).</li>
<li> Hotel losing reservation (my wife had the reservation number but the hotel had nothing, so she made a desperate call for me to email the hotel's email to the hotel confirming the reservation--the hotel squeezed them in, but my wife spent 3 nights on a very uncomfortable rollaway cot because the two-bedded room I had booked was not available--this was about 30 minutes after getting lost and ending up terrified in a Cleveland ghetto which featured the proverbial burning barrels in the street and large gangstah-looking people approaching the rented vehicle and pounding on it when she slowed down to avoid the barrels and the drug-addled who were stumbling in the street--the lost thing wasn't her fault--the car rental company had very recently moved, but was still on the same street so she didn't know it had moved--so her directions were wrong . . .).</li>
<li> Lost application materials (never had this one happen, but it is relatively common).</li>
<li> Misplaced music, outfit, instrument! (again didn't have this happen during auditions season, but later that year son performed in a city a couple of hours away and left his instrument behind after the performance and didn't realize it until we were almost home--amazingly he did this the day after he heard that a close friend of his forgot her viola at home prior to departing for a competition and remembered it an hour out of the city too late to return, so she called a relative who by exceeding the speed limit by a large margin arrived in the nick of time). Having a responsible parent along for auditions helps ensure that the instrument, clothes, music etc. are available at the right times in the right places.</li>
<li>Mean disinterested looks from the auditioning panel which make the auditioner feel totally rejected. Don't believe the look on the face or the body language or the banter during auditions; the most bored/angry looking panels gave the most money; I have heard of students who were certain they were accepted at school X because the auditioning panel was so nice, smiley and friendly, only to get a rejection letter a couple of months later. Some panels/people just don't smile and prefer to keep their "objective" face on at all times.</li>
<li> The extremely short audition. Again, the length of the audition has little correlation with the probability of acceptance or the magnitude of the merit award. Auditions almost always seem to take less time than they actually do (the performer is often experiences an altered state of consciousness in which time moves at a different speed). Sometimes panels get behind and need to use your audtion to catch up. It doesn't seem fair and you might think that the shortened audition means they aren't interested in you, but a short audition could mean that they were able to make up their minds about you very quickly. Most panels try very hard to stick strictly to the alotted 15 or 20 minutes. One of my son's toughest admits involved his shortest audition--he probably played only about 5 minutes of the required 35 minutes of repertoire--the teacher did ask to meet with him later in the day to talk with him and she was effusive in her praise.</li>
<li> Following the incredible audition. Ideally you cannot hear anything from auditions, but when you can, don't worry about the calibre. That incredible concerto that preceded you might be a doctoral applicant who looks young or could be an alum who is getting some feedback while in the midst of a world tour!</li>
</ol>
<p>Bravo ViolinDad for starting this thread. One thing that comes to mind is illness during audition season. Though not preventable is most cases, the flu etc can really throw a wrench into things. I know of a parent that became ill last year while their son was auditioning in NY and that parent had to teach their son how to drive a manual transmission car for the trip back. The parent described the experience as “memorable”.</p>
<p>Addendum to #7 --Note to singers: that audition dress/suit should be in your carry on, along with your music!
Luggage can and will get lost.</p>
<ol>
<li>Your accompanist at the audition is a little “off”. Before auditions learn to impart your tempo or preferences to the collaborative pianist in a clear and efficient manner.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>If you are a singer you will get sick and lose your voice at some point in winter auditions. Always travel with your audition on a cd in case you can’t sing that day.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for these warnings. I am especially nervous about traveling in winter- all of my D’s schools are in the mid-Atlantic/Northeast. I’ll drive to some, but a few are farther away and I worry about delayed and canceled flights. </p>
<p>Is the train less likely to get canceled than a flight in snow conditions?</p>
<p>can definitely second the Equipment Failure experience. D’s clarinet malfunctioned 3 hours before one audition. The school could provide no help but reassured us that the kind professors would likely be able to help when audition time came. Fortunately D’s teacher back home was available and able to guide her by phone ("pull harder!! pull harder!!) (Memorable/terrifying indeed). If possible, line up local repair people before you go. Also can second the illness experience, but we were much better prepared for that as I carry lots of drugs. Decongestant nose spray for the flights and salt for gargling were must-haves, besides pain relievers. Another experience: Thanks to CC we were so proud of ourselves for snagging early one of the few local inn rooms within walking distance of Famous Remote Conservatory. Soon after we got there, a wayward critter tragically discovered the electrical system. New lesson for Californians: Storm windows cannot be openned. Our choice was to put up with the sickening stench or leave to another hotel 20 minutes away, without a car. We stayed but had a tough time sleeping. I think this affected her audition. Lastly I would like to say that it is worth a phone call to verify that EVERYTHING you send has been received, from test scores down to rec letters. We had a situation where D’s ACT scores were sent but they got stuck in the giant computer database of Famous Techie University. It took a few phone calls to find the most experienced office person who could sort this out.</p>
<p>Stradmom: you have to tell us what happened after the bow exploded!</p>
<p>Clrn8mom, you mean after we panicked and ran around in circles? Fortunately, she carries two bows with her and then we ran to the nearest repair shop, who graciously did a quick fix so we could continue on with the two other presidents weekend auditions.</p>
<p>For the singers, I saw in our local drugstore today a product that claims to turn any standard water bottle into a cool mist humidifier. I’m thinking of buying one to take to hotel rooms, which I always find are much too dry for me. Cost was about $30.</p>
<h1>11 is so so so important. At my first audition I had no idea how to do it effectively, and she ended up playing a fiery piece (quarter note = 160) way way way under tempo. I sort of went into shock when she played the intro so slowly, but I didn’t know if it was rude to stop her and fix the tempo so I just went with it… of course with disastrous results.</h1>
<h1>4 happened to me. Original audition time was 12:30 PM. I got to the check-in at 11:00 AM and was told I missed my 8:00 AM audition! Luckily I was able to prove I had no knowledge and was able to squeeze in.</h1>
<p>And I would just like to really hammer home #8. That was my exact experience and I can’t stress it enough.</p>
<p>omg, this is scarying me (a prospective piano major). The worst thing that happened to me was a piano moving during a competition, haha. Luckily, it moved in the beginning and I was allowed to start over, but I didn’t win anything…</p>
<p>@momofbassist - it went well, thanks! It was a very interesting semester to say the least. I had a very interesting music experience, actually. Over the summer I started working in the campus activities office, and since the director of activities is an avid musician, we hit it off well. Near the end of the summer, one of the student-run a cappella groups found out their president/director had transferred without saying anything, and the VP didn’t want the job. So my boss set me up with an interview, and I got it! It was a great experience but it really showed me I could NEVER do that for the rest of my life… it was way too stressful. We did have those moments where everyone was in tune and the chords literally buzzed through the room, and those moments truly transendented this reality. It was just way too stressful dealing with students… “what do you mean you lost your music? what do you mean you got drunk at a frat party last night and lost your voice? what do you mean the rehearsal space was only reserved through october? what do you mean you won’t sing because you don’t like this piece?” I’m looking into a regular BA in music now that I know music ed isn’t in my future. I think the “me” from a year ago would die if he saw this post, but it’s true and I’m glad I’ve come to that conclusion on my own. The a cappella group asked me to come back next semester (I was really only a temporary fill-in), but I still haven’t given them an answer yet… I’m just not sure.</p>
<p>riku92mr: Thanks for the very interesting update. Best of luck!!! You certainly had to deal with many of the things that can go wrong with auditions and managing musicians.</p>
<h1>14. Just because your aural skills are above average and you can transpose things easily by ear, don’t assume you’ll be able to do it on the fly at your audition. Especially you vocalists. I woke up groggy the morning of one of my auditions and couldn’t hit a high G, so I just thought I’d transpose the voice part down a few steps so the pianist could stay in their key. Theoretically it should have worked, but this isn’t a perfect world.</h1>
<h1>15. Vocalists - bring a water bottle into the audition room and take small sips between songs. You’ll be surprised how much your mouth dries out when you’re nervous, and a dry mouth doesn’t make for good tone. Don’t worry if the panel is moving quickly through your songs. None of the panels cared that I was taking a drink.</h1>
<h1>16. If you need an accompanist, make sure your music is in a binder and it is printed double-sided, with all necessary edits included.</h1>
<h1>17. Vocalists - if you’re feeling especially nervous about a certain piece, kindly ask the accompanist to play a I/i chord before you start (ex: if the song is in A minor, have them play an A minor triad). None of the panels seemed to care that I asked except for one panel, who actually praised it and said it showed good aural skills to be able to double-check myself and “feel” a key.</h1>
<h1>18. DON’T TRY SO HARD. Seriously. If you start to make it a big deal, you’ll get nervous and that won’t help you at all. Yes, it’s a big deal, but don’t let yourself think it is on the day of the audition. Show them what you’re made of. For the most part, the judges are lax and try to make you feel comfortable. Before walking in, take a deep breath. Do some meditating. Just relax. You’ll be fine!</h1>
The a cappella group asked me to come back next semester (I was really only a temporary fill-in), but I still haven’t given them an answer yet… I’m just not sure.</p>