audition songs/ monologues

<p>susan - </p>

<p>since we are from the same area, i know who your daughter took lessons with (i actually think she and i actually spoke about it once or twice), and i know her roommate @ NYU who i competed against last year at home - and let me tell you how lucky they both were!!! i wanted to take lessons with him so badly, but because of financial constraints i couldn't.</p>

<p>another important factor in choosing a voice teaching is rapport. i know that for me, anyway, voice lessons (especially when working on interpretation) can be very personal and can put you in a vulnerable situation, so you have to be able to trust and be open with your teacher. my voice teacher back home let me know the first day of lessons that his studio was a safe space - which was very important for me.</p>

<p>just thought i'd put in my two cents about voice teachers...</p>

<p>maggie</p>

<p>We're from the same area? I had no idea. PM or email me sometime! I'm not sure who you are. I know the names of the other girls/boys who took voice with my D's voice teacher and many other kids who have done theater in the Northern half of the state but not all of them, LOL. I did not know that you ever met my D! You obviously know her roomie who lives an hour from us. She met her originally when in Annie back when my D was turning 10 and this girl was 12 and then did Gypsy together. The other girl took voice lessons with my D over the years and also went three summers for three weeks to her theater camp out of state, back in around middle school years or so. They were in Grease together last fall and now landed at the same college so chose to room together and have become closer friends. I'm not sure what you mean by "compete" unless maybe you went to school with her roomie or maybe for other shows or All States and such. Anyway, I'm not sure if you knew this but the voice lessons with Bill were done in small groups so the price was not high (though realize that may have been prohibitive for you). It is higher for privates. Just wanted you to know that the small group lessons were available and the norm. Luckily it is lower than what he usually must charge in NYC! I don't know who you took voice with but I know there are others in the region but we just never looked around back then. Well, write me some time! </p>

<p>I'm keeping my hopes up for you for your upcoming transfer auditions. All the best....</p>

<p>A fellow Vermonter and I didn't even know it!
Susan</p>

<p>Any of you students preparing to audition and actually ALL students of MT and performance should be sure and read the article that appears in this past Sunday's Arts and Leisure section of the New York Times about the Master Class Barabara Cook gave for six extraordinarily lucky Juilliard voice students. It relates to the ongoing discussion we've had here on several occasions about the importance of acting your songs. Ms Cook is a magician of song and one of the great gifts of American musical theater. Don't miss her message. Cut out the article and send it to your kids or email it if you subscribe to the NYT Online. They NEED to understand the importance of her message and find someone to work with them and help them achieve what Ms Cook is teaching.</p>

<p>Barbara Cook? Priceless.</p>

<p>Can you please send me the link to this article?</p>

<p>Hi Noccamom,</p>

<p>I was able to find this link that doesn't seem to require logging in as a subscriber. Hope it works for you and any others who might be interested.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11ishe.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11ishe.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How are you and your family doing btw? Hope all is going well for your beautiful talented D. Keep us posted!</p>

<p>Thanks Theatermom. Outstanding article about an inspirational MT legend. I agree it is essential reading for the newest crop of MT hopefuls.</p>

<p>Thank you for the link. I appreciate your asking how we are doing. Since the storm we have permanently relocated to Dallas which has turned out to be a great place for theater and musical theater. It has afforded S and D much opportunity. Especially since it was recently announced that NOCCA had their funding cut and they laid off the director of Musical Theater and two of his staff leaving only the dance director and an assistant. I understand that they will be incorporated into the music program. This was very sad news for everyone as NOCCA has provided such a top notch Musical Theater program for so long. My S is a freshmen and had just started his training there. Aside from that...my D is knee deep in her auditions and has had much success at early acceptances. I will post her list once we are through all. Hope to see and meet many of you in Chicago!</p>

<p>You are most welcome! So glad to hear that life for you and your family is beginning to regain some semblance of normalcy. Congratulations on your D's early successes and we'll all look forward to hearing her decision somewhere down the road. Best wishes to you and yours for a happy healthy holiday season. You're due......</p>

<p>Quick Question - Looking at audition requirements, I ran across the the phrase "one classical or art song". </p>

<p>I can figure out classical song, but I am not sure what an "art song" is. If anyone can enlighten me, I would appreciate it.</p>

<p>It is classical literature that is not from an opera (e.g., Haskins' "The Snow," Scarlatti's "Gai il sole dal Gange," Debussy's "Beau Soir," Caldara's "Come raggio di sol," or Parisotti's "Se Tu M'ami").</p>

<p>eve</p>

<p>I'm assuming that by classical they mean an aria, which usually refers to a song taken from an opera, oratory, or cantata, where as an art song is a stand-alone song. You'll usually (not always, of course) find that arias are in italian where as an art song might be in english or german (most commonly). They're called art songs because back when they were written for pure arts sake. lol, I know a vocal pedagogist would shoot me for generalizing like that, but it's a simply way of thinking of it.</p>

<p>Caro Mio Ben is a common aria, where as The Salley Gardens would be a common art song, for examples sake.</p>

<p>oops. posted at the same time.</p>

<p>This is a book of art songs that my daughter's teacher uses:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0793515130/104-9715313-1525525?v=glance&n=283155%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0793515130/104-9715313-1525525?v=glance&n=283155&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks Prof. Himmelheber, MTpolk and st8gemom. It makes sense now. I do have one more question. I have read the FAQ about vocal range, but I have a question on how you determine the upper limit. My D has a fairly low voice for a D, but can reach most higher notes in what she calls her "in the head" voice. Do you mark the high end at the point at which she initially goes to the "head" voice, or do you mark it at the upper end of the "head" voice range?</p>

<p>Range goes from the lowest note, to the highest note (including head voice). BUT - make sure it is the lowest note or highest note that you could actually PERFORM in a song - not just the notes you vocalize to.</p>

<p>st8gemom, that book must be really popular. It is also what I have, and what at least three other girls (the ones sitting around me) had at the OCU audition in November.</p>

<p>Hi,
Here's a basic question - if a school says give us a 2 min monologue, do they mean 2 min exactly, or is 1:15 or 1:30 OK? </p>

<p>If they ask for 2 min, does it look bad if all you have is 1:15 or 1:30 of material?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>St8gemom and Be<em>a</em>star:</p>

<p>Everyone I know in my chorus department at school uses the book, as well as all three voice teachers I have ever had. The songs in it are all done to death, but beautiful nonetheless.</p>

<p>Around here, at least, its known as the 'Italian Hits Book'.</p>

<p>I feel that less is BETTER for two very important reasons:</p>

<p>1) You don't have to worry about being cut off...if you are feeling more need for internal rhythms to slow, or to pause to think/feel, you can without worrying that you will be cut off.</p>

<p>2) If you do 1:45, and everyone else is doing 2:00 (sometimes more, as they tend to go over A LOT!), then you have "magically" transported the auditors - "That 2:00 minutes felt like 1:45!" They won't KNOW your time unless you go over and get cut off, right?</p>

<p>As long as there is a nice journey (beginning, middle and end), you needn't worry about coming up short on time.</p>

<p>eve</p>

<p>I didn't really know where to put this question, but I didn't want to start a new thread...just curious about how to present sheet music to pianists at auditions - accordian style (like taped out side by side), or in a binder, etc. Opinions?</p>