<p>I'm hoping the experienced music parents in these threads might have some wisdom for me--my son is scheduled to audition on violin at nec on 3/1. The problem is, he is in a precollege program in new york city until 6 p.m. on 2/28 which means a late arrival in boston (i am partly handicapped and can't drive that fast so likely after midnight), and the audition is at 9 a.m. the next morning. He was originally offered an afternoon slot which would have given him more time to rest after the trip and warm up, however, his string quartet has a mandatory recital in philadelphia at 6 p.m. on the 1st, and the coach insisted my poor ds take the earliest audition time available to insure getting back in time.
the down side, in addition to the less than optimal audition time, is that we have not been able to locate an accompanist who will take the audition (even when we offered capuccino or chai latte in addition to their fee), and there is no time available for rehearsal with the accompanist in advance of the audition.<br>
The admissions office of course sent the usual letter stating there could be no changes at this point, but i am sorely tempted to write and beg for mercy. (the office was very congenial before: ds was first given an audition date earlier in the week per his request, but the teacher whose studio he is hoping for asked him to change the audition date to one of the days he is hearing, and this is what we ended up with.)</p>
<p>Ok, I guess not being an instrumentalist parent I don't get it but - a PRE-COLLEGE program that won't let you go audition FOR COLLEGE? That sounds crazy. It was understood when DD was missing things to audition for college that that was the point of the HS studying, to get ready for college!</p>
<p>So you can't leave the program early to get on the road?</p>
<p>yes, we could, and could even be excused for the whole day, however, my son has various projects he is working on and rehearsals that he doesn't want to miss if possible. leaving earlier won't get us there in time to rehearse with the only accompanist who is willing, as she wants him there at 10. we would have to go up friday which i am perfectly happy to do but ds really doesn't want to miss a whole day of his precollege program.
what i thought was weird was the coach of the recital on the following day refusing to let ds out of the recital, as from my perspective anyway, a conservatory audition is vastly more important than a recital. (ds was even asked to remain on campus after the audition by the teacher he wants to study with which may affect his acceptance chances, but he won't be able to do this)
anyway it feels good to complain to a whole lot of music parents on the internet</p>
<p>This is a hard one to determine. A lot will depend on your kid. Some want (or even need) the pressure, and tight timing doesn't seem to make them flinch. </p>
<p>Others need the time to unwind, unstress, and have a relaxing time prior to audition.</p>
<p>Personally, I would not have advised a time slot where a run through with the accompanist
was not possible. </p>
<p>I see it as too much going on in a confined time frame. Either bag the precollege program, or leave earlier. I would not advise all three in a two day period. Even for the 24/7 music kids, something has to give.</p>
<p>The other negative I see is the unwillingness of the chamber coach not to be flexible; I would have read the coach the riot act. The audition is paramount. Unless it was a recital/performance or a paid gig scheduled prior to your audition date, the quartet can be rescheduled. (My son is foremost a chamber musician. Trust me I know about scheduling conflicts.)</p>
<p>You don't want to burn any bridges as a musician and some of the contacts involved now may be beneficial (or detrimental) if they feel they are being slighted or ignored. But you can't jump through hoops and please everyone. This is YOUR student's audition. </p>
<p>There will be a time when an in demand player has to learn to say no. It can be done tactfully and nicely, but it is a skill that has to be learned. A student needs to be able to do this AND still balance committments, but it is also a matter of establishing the immediate overriding priority. At this point, the attention should be focused on the audition(s). The only reason to do the quartet would be if it's for prep for a high level competition, like Fishoff or Coleman. </p>
<p>Another concern is late evening travel. Don't know your route or departure point, but it's a 3 1/2 hour drive best case from from NY border to Boston. Even at end February the weather can be iffy. Should you run into weather or car problems, you'll be delayed or have potential repair issues late at night.</p>
<p>This is my assessment, having been there done that as a parent that's been through the process, and watching our son learning to balance throughout college, other's recitals and collaborations, gigs, and pro auditions. </p>
<p>Only you and your child know how far they can spread themselves.</p>
<p>Just my $.02</p>
<p>I completely agree with Violadad. Perhaps the recital in Philly is important? But the full precollege day should be scrapped in the interest of (a) relaxing and (b) rehearsing with the pianist. I would say this even if the audition were later. You should get there early for all the reasons Violadad stated. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that NEC is tops for violin and that it would be a big opportunity to get in. You should also try to arrange to be able to stay for the professor if necessary on Sunday. But it sounds like it's a recital in Philly, no? That might be a tough one. </p>
<p>Lots of driving for you! I wish you luck with the weather.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, wouldn't the train be better than car travel? Center city to center city; fairly dependable schedule (I would avoid air travel like the plague for this one). You could go NY-Boston and then Boston-Philly.</p>
<p>I couldn't agree more with mom4. I'm sitting in a hotel lobby in Boston as I type this. My d did her NEC audition today and we came here by train from Philly. Amtrak was smooth, comfortable, and very much on time.</p>
<p>They have a 7:00PM train on 2/28 from NYC Penn Station that'll get you into Boston's South Station at 11PM and a train on 3/1 at 11:40AM that gets to Philly's 30th Street Station at 5:29PM. I guarantee you'll be a lot less frazzled when you arrive if you take the train instead of making the drive. You even get a discount if you belong to AAA. Make it easy on yourself. You won't regret it.</p>
<p>Well...my only opinion...the recital is more important than a day of rehearsals with the precollege program. The group cannot play in the recital without your son. The precollege program can certainly do without him while he goes for a MUSIC audition. My kid missed several precollege ensemble rehearsals for auditions, but he didn't miss ANY performances of any kind (including recitals). I would leave early on the 28...really early...or drive up on the 27 and have an extra day to relax. Or better yet...take the train on the 27th.</p>
<p>New York to Boston is about a four hour drive under good conditions. If you are accurate in saying that, because of your partial handicap, it would take you closer to six hours, then your drive from Boston to Philly would take over eight hours and perhaps more like nine. Even if you were to leave right after the audition and drive straight through, it looks like getting to the recital by 6 PM is going to be tough even if the weather is good and you avoid any traffic problems. It looks to me as though the train plus a quick cab ride might be able to get him to the recital with about enough time to change into his concert duds, tune his instrument and rosin his bow before he has to start playing (assuming the venue is in the center city area.) On second thought, you may want to have him change in the bathroom on the train.</p>
<p>Unless the two of you simply thrive on pressure, it looks to me that the train is a much better idea than driving. If he could just get a few hours off of the rehearsal on the 28th, there is a 5 PM train from New York that arrives in Boston at 9 PM and thus (hopefully) just in time for a rehearsal with the accompanist. Better yet, skip the rehearsal entirely on the 28th, get to Boston for an earlier slot with the accompanist and then rest up for what will be a very busy March 1st.</p>
<p>When my daughter was a high school senior, she had an audition in Philadelphia that had her there until 4 PM. She had an audition the next morning in Boston, so we drove straight through (the last few hours in a snowstorm on the Mass Pike with traffic at a near standstill) and got into our hotel after midnight. She also had one of the first auditions of the morning and we were out of Boston and back home in NJ about six hours later (having made a lunch stop somewhere along the way). We were both pretty wiped at that point and I can't imagine being able to perform well at a recital after all of that. Do yourself a favor - avoid as much of the rehearsal as you can and take the train.</p>
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you may want to have him change in the bathroom on the train.
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<p>Son actually did this on the way back from the one non-music academic conference he attended during high school. The chamber coach was livid that he would not be available the week prior to the recital, and that he did not take his instrument to DC to practice.</p>
<p>I must have hung up on her three times that week. Thankfully, son did not have a cell at the time, or she would have been harassing him. ;) </p>
<p>The kids had prepped their tails off prior. The concert was perfect. Coach sang son's praises afterwards. I can still hear the heavily Russian accented English : "He haz not touched bow in week, and played like geenus!" </p>
<p>Makes me chuckle now, but at the time, I felt like picking her up and depositing her in the fountain outside the venue. :D</p>
<p>Yes, the OP's predicament did a scratch a nerve.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody--your suggestions are very very helpful.</p>
<p>I am definitely looking at the train. Driving is a little less physically taxing (getting in and out of trains, up and down stairs carrying luggage etc is hard for me). If we drive we don't have to wait on the trains and it will be easier to transport the tux and my handicapped person supplies. But, in the event of weather, the train is definitely the way to go. I appreciate very much everyone's estimates about time/distance etc.</p>
<p>To clarify, in fact, the rehearsal with the precollege ensemble <em>is</em> for the Fischoff and might be a recording session. (Otherwise it would not be as important)</p>
<p>The recital in Philadelphia is the annual advanced study scholarship recital and the scholarship recipients were told when given the scholarship that it was mandatory they play on this date. For that reason, ds did not select an audition on this date but it turned out his teacher of choice can only hear auditions then. There is another violinist in the same predicament, but she managed to move her earlier morning time to later in the day (how she will get back in time is fortunately not my problem). My son's quartet will go last on the program which helps.</p>
<p>And, this just in, the accompanist for ds' Juilliard audition (on the 5th) just emailed him and set their rehearsal time for Feb 28 at 6 p.m. which would delay our departure until very late.</p>
<p>The NEC accompanist is only available in the morning of the 28th unless we make another trip to Boston in advance of the audition (we have already made one trip to meet with teachers and for ds to have sample lessons). Ds doesn't want to make another trip as he feels he will lose valuable practice time.</p>
<p>Now knowing the full details, I'd bag the precollege program, get up to Boston on the 28th to arrange a run through with the accompanist on the 28th, and do the NEC audition as scheduled. You may still be hard pressed to get to Philly if you're delayed. </p>
<p>
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And, this just in, the accompanist for ds' Juilliard audition (on the 5th) just emailed him and set their rehearsal time for Feb 28 at 6 p.m. which would delay our departure until very late.
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<p>I'd cite audition scheduling conflicts on this one and see if a reschedule is possible. Logistically your proximity should make that a bit easier.</p>
<p>You're still between a rock and a hard place. Good luck whatever you decide, and particularly the Fischoff application/selection. If your son's quartet should make the cut, enjoy. It's a great opportunity and experience.</p>
<p>Hopefully, it will all sort out.</p>
<p>Violadad and Bassdad, I loved hearing your stories. Esp. the Phil-Boston mass pike in the snow auditions. It seems this type of tight time conflict can't be avoided in audition season. </p>
<p>One of ds's friends told him about a total audition nightmare flying out to CIM. His plane couldn't land in Cleveland due to a blizzard and put down at around midnight in another city after circling for hours. Undaunted, our young violinist hailed a taxi and spent six hours driving through freezing snow at we can only guess what cost, got to his hotel in the wee hours, spent half an hour in the bathtub, one hour watching tv, half an hour warming up (on his instrument as well as from the cold), took his bright and early audition and apparently played great since he was accepted. </p>
<p>Still cogitating....</p>
<p>Ye gads! What a tale! I wonder what that taxi ride cost. Several years ago we did a drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland through a blizzard for back to back audition days....and then my SUV could not get into the parking garage at the hotel (downtown...a big mistake!) There was no dinner to be had anywhere.....finally got a very late delivery from a local place. It was not much fun. Auditions went well, though. I suppose when everything else is so cumbersome, one forgets to be nervous.</p>
<p>We always planned to get to the audition sites the day before the audition. It gave DS time to rest and relax and was much less hectic for all of us.</p>
<p>We were at Peabody and UMD-CP on President's Day weekend in 2003...Anybody remember the weather??? 30 plus inches of snow in the greater DC area. Folks were stranded all over the place. Power was out in half of the area. Auditions were actually delayed a couple of days as faculty were unable to return...the airports were closed. We were glad to have gotten there early...and very glad we were staying with relatives. We couldn't WAIT to travel north where they know how to handle that much snow!!!</p>
<p>I wondered if there is any chance you could take a friend with you on the train - someone to help with your stuff. I'm thinking that your S's job needs to be to be focusing on his next step - the audition, the recital, whatever. The train is a lot more relaxing that way.</p>
<p>And your job needs to be focusing on your S. Not on snow, or fretting, or pain, or bad traffic.</p>
<p>So if you have a friend you could talk into accompanying you, - you pay for that train ticket, too, it might be cheap in the long run.</p>
<p>The Juilliard pianist seems easy enough to change. The other audition is clearly a valid excuse. S rehearsed late the night before the audition, because we were from out of town. You have a lot more flexibility. </p>
<p>Not meaning this to sound as harsh as it comes out in type, but pre-college is part of his past, the audition and the scholarship are part of his future. When you can't do it all, it's time to prioritize. He'll have plenty of recording options in his future. No need to jeopardize his future for this one.</p>
<p>While D and I did not have any real travel horror stories traveling to/from auditions last year, reading this post sure brings back some memories! We did have several nasty drives. On at least 2 occasions I was fortunate to have enough flexibility to be able to leave a day earlier than planned when the weather report was bad- so that WE both wouldn't be over stressed! Best of luck to all and hope the weather gods will be with you.</p>
<p>My daughter has decided not to use an accompanist for NEC, since it is optional. I don't know if that is a good thing or not, but I think playing with an accompanist with no rehearsal could be pretty dicey. You could scrap the accompanist for NEC--one less thing to stress about. And definitely try to reschedule the rehearsal with the Juilliard accompanist--I know my daughter is rehearsing with her accompanist the night before her Juilliard audition (also on the 5th).
I guess I'm glad we live so far away--we told her teachers and coaches long ago that she would be gone the end of Feb. and first week of March for auditions and there was nothing that could be done. In fact, I told them last spring that she was hoping to audition in New York and when she would be away.<br>
I must say, though, that whoever scheduled your mandatory recital was not very considerate. String teachers and coaches of talented East Coast kids must surely be aware that early March is audition week and that their senior students will be focused on other things at that time.</p>
<p>thank you, binx, for calling it like it is. ds is very involved in his precoll program and his enthusiasm carries me along. it is very helpful to have someone paint the big picture with correct perspective. i like your idea about taking a friend along. i don't think we know anyone who would be free and available, but i'll keep an outlook.</p>
<p>bluepearl, i did think about not using the nec accompanist and i'm glad you wrote about that option as it certainly would help to cross off one piece of the equation. there's always the risk that we will have gone to a lot of trouble only to find ds might prefer to play without accompaniment than with the accompanist he has. i'd be interested in what others think about the relative merits of accompanist vs. no accompanist. i certainly agree with everyone that playing an audition with an accompanist without rehearsing first is not wise. (so which days are your d's nec and juilliard auditions?)</p>
<p>and bluepearl, thank you for saying the recital organizers should not be choosing the first week in march for the recital. this is a prominent music school in philadelphia and virtually all the kids in the advanced study ensembles go on to conservatory, so the organizers certainly are aware that many might have auditions at this time. of course, not all the ensemble kids are graduating seniors, but ds' entire quartet is and i believe there is at least one senior in every ensemble. </p>
<p>as of this posting, we asked the juilliard accompanist for another time and they chose friday evening, so we're trying again. we could theoretically have a friday eve. rehearsal, and get up to boston late but still in time for the sat. a.m. meeting with the accompanist. i just wish i had refused to take the audition time offered on the day we were making the arrangements and i suppose that would be the wisdom to carry away for anyone who has audition planning in their future.</p>
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i'd be interested in what others think about the relative merits of accompanist vs. no accompanist.
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<p>I guess it depends on the instrument. Voice performers are accustomed to using accompanists without rehearsals. The better accompanists do just fine keeping up. At IU, the accompanist just wouldn't speed up on the first song, even though my Son tried to push the song. At NEC, the accompanist added inappropriate flourishes. I suspect that Professors are good at separating the student from the accompanist, although if the student becomes unhinged, then that would be a problem.</p>
<p>If your instrument doesn't need an accompanist, then it is your option. If the songs need one, then it should go ok.</p>