<p>Shennie, I agree with you. I was scrambling in December to find someone to help son with audition material. His former teacher is a wonderful lady but had no knowledge about current college acceptace/auditions. The trumpet teacher at his first audition took time out to give him hints during the audition. The faculty at one UC gave him encouragement. The dean at one school gave him feedback after another audition-that school took the best 4 students that year (undergrad & grad) chances for him had to be slim when he was competing with several grad students. All the hints along the way prepared him for his best & last audition at CSULB. I felt I had "failed" son a bit by not knowing about sample faculty lessons but things worked out for the best anyway and he is happy in Redlands.</p>
<p>I believe it is in the best interest of a SINGER to have a vocal coach besides their weekly voice teacher. This person would play their accompaniment, coach on things like language diction, poise, and the overall performance. Our D had one in HS and has one now in college. I feel vocal coaches are invaluable.</p>
<p>Gkoukla: How does one find a vocal coach? (Are you for hire? :) )</p>
<p>All son's auditions were by audio or video tape. After the college process, he was asked to audition for a european summer youth orchestra and then for another one. So he is slowly getting practice in that area. He never had anything but a teacher to help him. His oboe teacher also played the piano to accompany some of his audition pieces. She also made suggestions on which pieces to select for the audition. But his acceptances were all based on his composition/theory background with the oboe as a side instrument. And composition was a separate application everywhere! Oh, I am so glad it is over for me........</p>
<p>A question for those who have been there: Who did the communicating with the music department, teachers, etc.? There have been lots of previous discussions about whether a parent should initiate contact with the school, as opposed to the student. My D doesn't get home most days til after business hours, so e-mail would be the only way for her to communicate. Do the music professors expect to communicate only with the student?</p>
<p>Personally, I believe the kid should do it. I had nothing to do with the communication and we were 10-7 hours beyond the time zones involved. To get my son going I sat with him and discussed what he needed to be asking etc. He started emailing places that weren't so important to get the feel for it and then I was gone. I believe they expect to communicate with the student not the parent. During summer visits, most of the time I sat on some bench outside the music department when he went to meet with folks. Occasionally, they asked to speak with me. I really stayed out of it. He visited the school he will be attending next year on his own. He flew across the country and met with the oboe teacher and admissions, had a lesson, toured the campus. Someday I will visit.</p>
<p>Hi mezzomom! Good question. Is there a college or university in your area you could call? That is where I would start, I guess. Perhaps ask your voice teacher for some recommendations.</p>
<p>And yes, I am for hire!</p>
<p>Teachers, i.e., the person with whom a student "studies" their major instrument, should be quite capable of handling technical development. This is the person for whom the savy student picks a school, going there specifically to study with "Ms/Mr Fabulous Singer/Player/Pedagogue-extraordinaire." The "teacher" will be more or less capable of "coaching" the music, i.e., languages, style, etc., and accompanying. Most "coaches" are collaborative pianists, but some are retired divas who have a great deal of experience with the music being studied, but only know how to use their own voice and not necessarily what to tell others about how to sing. There are numerous well-known coaches (Martin Katz at Michigan, John Wustman at Illinois, etc.), who are a major draw at the universities at which they teach, and they usually supervise collaborative accompaniment majors. This works as a big advantage, because there will be a wealth of excellent pianists available, who themselves must study and play a large body of repertory, and they are more available and capable to aid other musicians. Coaches train the music, teachers train the instruments/voices. Coaches are more a necessity for singers, mainly because of language and interpretive/characterization issues. Instrumentalists do need coaching of ensemble, whether in quartets, trios, or traditional sonata repertory (instrument and piano). </p>
<p>As for performance skills, these evolve through performance, and are greatly enhanced through studio master classes, where students perform for each other, take notice of tendancies and discuss how appropriate certain kinds of performance behaviors are. The teacher can use these studio classes to learn more about what is successful for students when they are under pressure, and what is not. Many summer programs have special classes in auditioning, and they are probably quite helpful. Experience with supportive feedback is the most readily available situation for audition coaching.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Who did the communicating with the music department, teachers, etc.? >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>The student should do this. THEY need to decide if these relationships are ones they want to pursue. This cannot be done if the parents are doing all the communicating. DS did ALL of the arranging with teachers himself. The most I did was help him find email addresses and phone numbers...but I did NOT make the appointments or contacts...he did.</p>
<p>Our situation was pretty much the same as others here. My son made all the contacts with teachers, either through email or phone calls. He went to his auditions alone (his choice, as he said he would be more nervous with a parent along), and he made his audition tapes/CD's with the help of friends, rather than parents. (His friends had the equipment; we didn't.) He even did his college visits alone. (half due to choice, half to financial considerations)</p>
<p>lorelei2702: Thank you so much for that perfect articulation of teacher vs coach. I couldn't have said it any better.</p>
<p>gkoukla: It can be confusing, who does what, and sometimes lines are blurred. There are coaches (unwise ones) who cross the line and make repertory assignments which contradict the teacher's pedagogical plans. In the best arrangements, the coach and the teacher confer before repertory suggestions are presented to the student. Do you coach somewhere? I ask because you said you were available.</p>
<p>Hi lorelei2720: I only coach several students from our HS right now. I take them up to and including their college auditions, and yes, the teacher and I confer and I never make repertory assignments. Many times I also go to the students' lessons, which is very valuable. My D's coach at UM has a session or two each week with her, plus he attends one lesson each week with her teacher. It's wonderful and we have been so pleased. We're hoping sometime to have D coach with Martin Katz at UM.</p>
<p>I don't have experience auditioning for undergrad music, but I study with a professor at a university, and she often does not give lessons before auditions just because she gets attached to people and feels as though it will bias her. I know most do give lessons, but just a warning.</p>
<p>Ok, I do believe I asked the wrong question, but I understand a whole lot more about what vocalists go through. This seems much more complicated than being a piano student. I also appreciate the collective wisdom and generosity of CC posters. I don't know where else one could find such specific information on this topic.
Shennie, I agree with you on the fairness aspect. It all comes down to those 20 minutes of music. Our son is very aware of this. </p>
<p>I guess it's not a coach we are looking for, but someone who knows more about the teachers than is written about in the bio on their website. Our son has done a lot of internet research, attended some festivals and found a couple teachers with whom he would like to study. Unfortunately, one does not always get into the first choice program. I want to help him find a few more teachers at different colleges/conservatories so he has some choices next May. It is very difficult to know which teacher to contact in the large departments as he has become painfully aware that not all performing artists (who may have been child prodigies) are good teachers of regular kids. I am beginning to realize I'm looking for something that may not exist, like a guide that not only has information on the school, its culture, and facilities, but also information on the teachers and the make up of the studios.</p>
<p>After reading many of these posts, I wonder if its better to audition at a lot of schools then try to figure out which teacher to go to after finding out where one is accepted? We just thought the chances would be better if someone on the faculty had heard you before.</p>
<p>Pianomom,
I'm also a piano mom, my DS is beginning his junior year at Florida State. He did not arrange lessons prior to auditions - both costs and time were factors in this. The teacher your son ends up with is the main thing, and that's pretty hard to assess. My son's first year teacher was the one he requested, and was a wonderful performer but a poor teacher, all in all. I don't know how we could have found that out ahead of time, except with a sample lesson, so I think you are on the right track. That teacher retired and he is now studying with someone who is a perfect fit for him, so it has worked out well in the long run.
We did research the schools where he auditioned as much as possible ahead of time. We looked at teacher repertoire and performance history as one indication of fit. My S finds he is much happier with a younger teacher who is an active performer, as the teacher is much more "connected." Another thing he did was attend summer music camps and/or workshops at three of the schools where he auditioned. This gave him a good sense of the school culture, other students (they often help with the camps) and the facilities. He also met several faculty members, who got to know him as well.
One final possibility - if your son's current teacher is not performing or otherwise involved with teachers at the colleges he's looking at, why not find a coach for a few extra lessons. This could be a person who you engage to help him polish his repertoire before auditions begin. Ideally, it will be someone who can help with introductions and opinions about college options. This was very helpful to my S.
Good luck!</p>
<p>DS found that the "world of his instrument" wasn't very big. Between his private teacher, the director of the precollege ensemble in which he played, and some professional musician friends we have, we were easily able to find out about potential teachers. DS took those names and recommendations and THEN he decided where to schedule trial lessons.</p>
<p>"One final possibility - if your son's current teacher is not performing or otherwise involved with teachers at the colleges he's looking at, why not find a coach for a few extra lessons. This could be a person who you engage to help him polish his repertoire before auditions begin. Ideally, it will be someone who can help with introductions and opinions about college options. This was very helpful to my S."</p>
<p>finprof, thanks for sharing this info. and I'm happy to hear that your son eventually found a good fit. What you described is what we are looking for. How did you go about finding this person? Was your regular piano teacher involved?</p>
<p>I agree with Thumper on the smallness of the classical music world. When we began the search, I spoke with a couple of professionals with whom we were aquainted and who knew my son and his playing. They were able to recommend teachers. I also had a list of teachers from the schools he was looking at and asked my "committee" about specific people. My son also inquired about teachers at the various camps he went to and at competitions with others on his instrument. What we found out was that the same names came up frequently. Another source of info for you that may prove helpful is the internet. My son plays cello and there is a website for cellists with a discussion forum. You can usually contact individuals and get information on people they have studied with. Your could do this pretty easily. There must be discussion forums out there for pianists. </p>
<p>It is possible to audition and wait until he is accepted to try and schedule lessons but there is not much time between acceptance and when decisions have to be made. Also, music schools are busy places after audition season with juries and graded recitals. At my son's school, the whole place shuts down for a week to do juries. I have found fall to be the easiest time to try and schedule trial lessons. And yes, it is an expensive and time consuming business. But I really believe that it is the best way to find a good match. Very well known teachers may not be the right one for your kid. If the student and teacher are at odds then not much will be accomplished, and since they spend so much time together and the private teacher has so much influence on the student, it is imperative that they have a good working relationship.</p>
<p>Pianomom,
We went to the artist-in-residence at a nearby university. My son's teacher recommended him, but I made the contact and set up the audition. It was well worth it. Because this man performs and tours, he knows (and is known by) many teachers at top schools. The lessons were wonderful, and a much better indicator of what he is seeing now in college. Is there a good music school near you that you can contact?</p>