Audition tips & info.

College Majors Music Major
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<p>SheriG:</p>

<p>My D is a viola performance major at Rice. It’s an amazing place.
I recall that the audition day was extremely well organized and run very professionally. It was a no-nonsense event. You go in, play your audition, and leave.</p>

<p>Students checked in at the tables immediately inside Alice Pratt Brown Hall, and then were directed to the practice rooms. I heard a lot of extremely fine playing while walking the corridors. A parents’ meeting was held in Stude Hall while students were warming up and auditioning. The topics were “Life as a Shepherd School Student”, “Financial Aid” and things of that nature. The Director of Music Admissions (a very nice, approachable guy) conducted the meeting, and advised that they take a total of 30 freshmen encompassing all instruments and voices. (Don’t let this scare you off!! The viola Moms were all sizing each other up, though. It was quite amusing.)</p>

<p>I observed auditioning students wearing nice slacks and a blouse for girls, and khakis and a dress shirt for guys. Not too dressy, not too casual. Comfortable clothes were the order of the day.</p>

<p>My D played most of the required audition repertoire—2 concerto movements, a couple of Bach movements, and even a chuck of her etude for a warm-up!!! She played more of her rep at Rice than anywhere else.</p>

<p>Good luck to your D.</p>

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<p>RedHerring, the only thing I would add is that Rice accepts more than 30. They look for a yield of 30. DD’s year the yield was a little high, I think about 34.</p>

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<p>bluepearl – good luck to your daughter - it sounds like it will be fine!</p>

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<p>Yes, SingersMom07, you are right regarding Rice’s yield of 30.</p>

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<p>Very pleasant audition day experience…Daughter had theory/aural placement test from 11:30 to 12:30…They had coffee and a few snacks out in the music reception area…Although I did not see water…would have been really nice for the singers…</p>

<p>Daughter’s audition wasn’t until later in the evening after the teacher’s finished their teaching day. (school day). </p>

<p>There were about 5 teachers listening to DD. I think they had 3 different rooms going. Very relaxed atmosphere, acoustics in room were pretty good. I heard one girl say that the accompianist rushed her song a little so make sure you really lead and let them know what to expect. DD didn’t have any problems.</p>

<p>She picked her first song…they picked the second. After she sang they asked if she had any questions…Luckily we had heard the others students coming out saying they had been asked if they had questions so she had time to think of one.</p>

<p>It was a little hard to find an audition room because of all the extra kids there but there are several and we were finally successful…Very pleasant day. </p>

<p>Had nice diner at a restaurant called “The Farm” yum! don’t go to late however as we got there just in time…(about 7) filled up pretty quickly after that.</p>

<p>Good luck everyone</p>

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<p>Like any college town, there are a lot of restaurants in Bloomington. Some are better than others, but the one the music students love best is Mamma Bear’s which is about a block from the music school). Just ask anyone there for directions. It is a pizza place and very good as well as inexpensive. Most importantly, you can really soak up the music school atmosphere there. There is a Japanese restaurant next door which I’ve heard is so-so, but I haven’t been. </p>

<p>If you’re there for more than a quick stop and feel adventurous, there is a little Turkish restaurant called Turquoise in the direction of downtown on 3rd street which is inexpensive and very good. There are some fancier places in the Kirkwood area which are good for celebrations, but we haven’t been to one where the food justifies the higher prices (though none are really expensive by Washington, DC standards).</p>

<p>For fast food regulars, in the College Mall area (about a mile from Jacobs), you’ll find a Panera, a Chilli’s, MacDonald’s, etc. </p>

<p>I understand it’s horribly cold there this week (below zero) - sorry for those who have to brave it!</p>

<p>Good luck to all of you.</p>

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<p>Daughter had a nice piano audition too today (I wasn’t there, just relaying info). It was in one of the piano teacher’s studios, and there were several piano teachers there. All 3 teachers were there that she had taken lessons from when we visited back in Nov., and they remembered her. The atmosphere was quite relaxed. She didn’t like the piano much but luckily they didn’t ask her to play the piece that would have sounded the worst on it. She wore her black pants and blouse, and said that she would have felt overdressed in a long dress because of the casual setting. (Thanks for the previous suggestions!) She only played for 11 minutes. She decided to wait and take the theory test at orientation if she gets in; she had a bad night trying to sleep and the test was early this morning. It was -7 degrees at night and there is lots of snow on the ground (a big deal for a native Californian.) Good luck to all others going to IU!</p>

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<p>Our daughter had a good violin audition yesterday at IU. It was very, very cold but sunny and dry; and to our perspective, hardly any snow (we have well over at foot of snow here at home). The violinists had 10 minutes each and played in one of the recital halls. Daughter was very glad to be on stage where she didn’t have to worry about the loudness of her violin. She played well and thought there were 5 or 6 faculty members present. She had a hard time finding a practice room in the afternoon; there were student helpers who were there to help find rooms for auditioners. What they did was ask a current IU student to get out of a practice room that was reserved for auditioners to use. We felt bad about that, but the student was actually very gracious about it and said he understood.</p>

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<p>Bluepearl–</p>

<p>Maybe she took my son’s practise room! IU students were told to expect the auditioners to kick them out if they needed a practise room - he found it hard to get his work done (he was kicked out a few times!), but completely understood since he was in the same boat last year. We had heard on CC last year that a number of applicants had difficulty finding empty rooms to warm up in at IU so I guess the school was being responsive. It’s only fair to provide practise space for them. </p>

<p>I imagine they told you that they are building a large new practise building. My son generally has not had a problem finding a room to practise in though.</p>

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<p>Son had a vocal audition. We had visited IU last summer, so we skipped all of the events. Music test was in the AM, and audition in the PM. Booked the Courtyard off priceline for 2 nights ($50/night) so we would have the room until 6pm or later. We heard lots of kids “warming up” in the hotel. I think it was fine for the kids to practice/warm up during the day.</p>

<p>We contacted a prof in advance, and had a nice meeting with him in the afternoon. Voice auditions didn’t start until 4:30, so he had time to meet. He had my son vocalize. He said he could tell more about a singer from vocalizing than the audition. He said he would accept my son into his studio. Definitely worth trying to meet a teacher.</p>

<p>3 audition rooms for undergrad voice. They divided the faculty because of the number of kids. Grad voice is next day, and all the voice faculty hear each student. We were in room 405, and my son said it was a really nice room. He could sing full voice.</p>

<p>Due to one kid not showing up, the audition was early. You should definitely arrive early.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE=opera-mom]
I heard one girl say that the accompianist rushed her song a little so make sure you really lead and let them know what to expect. DD didn’t have any problems.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Son had the opposite problem. He gave the accompanist the tempo, but he played slow on the first song. He tried to push the accompanist, but without much success. From the hallway, I could hear it. I was wondering what was going on. Son wondered if the accompanist played slow on purpose (see how the kid reacts). Note: we had met one teacher when we visited last summer. I don’t know if it was luck of the draw, but she was on his audition committee. It could have been a set-up. 2nd song was fine. Son said the first piece is not difficult to play (he is also a piano player). It was also a standard piece, so there shouldn’t have been any problem.</p>

<p>Didn’t try to find an audition room since he had warmed up in the hotel. Son gave a songlist to the door person. She was surprised, but gave it to the judges. Son sang one piece, they picked the 2nd. Chatted a little afterwards (wasn’t expecting it). </p>

<p>Went to Mama Bear Pizza afterwards. Our plan was to: Order pizza; go to hotel to change and pack up; return to pizza joint; eat pizza; and drive home. Well, apparently you can’t pre-order your pizza for eating in. So, we order the pizza, picked it up, and ate it at the hotel. Pizza was Fine, not great. Between 4-6pm, there is a carryout special - free cheese bread and 2 litre pop with a 10 or 14" pizza. I guess that made up for not being able to eat in. BTW: No place to park, so if you are at the music building, you are better off just walking there.</p>

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<p>DS and I are headed to UNT for his jazz guitar audition on the 24th. Anyone else headed to Denton?</p>

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<p>any advice for USC thornton violin auditions? i have one this weekend…</p>

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<p>Is anyone headed to Lawrence this weekend for auditions on Saturday???</p>

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<p>DS had his audition at UNT yesterday and it went pretty well (despite his guitar getting lost by Northwest on its way down … more about that on the “flying” message thread). The folks at UNT were very well organized and welcoming - lots of signs and students to help us locate where we needed to be. He took the optional music theory exam and was told he got a high score; he also aced the pitch matching on the first try. I wish more schools would include interviews in the audition days, though (Berklee does; UNT offers them only for Music Ed. majors). I really liked that they had invited offices from all over campus and the department to set up informational displays - everyone from Parents’ Association to Res life was on hand. One of the nice features of the campus is Bruce Hall, the dorm right across from the Music Building, which naturally attracts a lot of music majors and features practice rooms in the basement and a themed wing just for jazz musicians. The dorm itself (the oldest on campus) was a bit on the shabby side but my son liked it (go figure). We didn’t stick around for the full campus tour - had seen enough to know that it would be a good fit.</p>

<p>We enjoyed an inexpensive Mexican dinner at “El Matador” on Friday night (located near the Kroger on University Drive). The La Quinta was nothing special, but the beds were comfy and there was lots of hot water in the morning for our showers.</p>

<p>If anyone wants more info please send me a PM.</p>

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<p>me! I’m going to Lawrence!</p>

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<p>D is auditioning next weekend at IU for flute performance. I have read the posts about string and vocal auditions…any woodwinds out there who have audititioned at IU? Any suggestions would be wonderful! We know the campus very well since hubby and I are IU grads, just do not know what to expect for the audition. Her first college audition was very personable. It sounds like she should not expect that at IU?? Her audition is Saturday morning followed by the music theory test. Fly in Friday, fly out Saturday…
Thanks!!</p>

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<p>Any experience out there with NYU auditions? My daughter’s cd was accepted for classical voice but she really wants to sing jazz… she is so happy that NYU “invited” her up for an audition she’s not thinking straight and I don’t want to spend the time and $ for an unnecessary audition.</p>

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<p>NYU is a great college–very hot school right now, too. If she wants to sing jazz, why did she submit a classical pre-screen?</p>

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<p>If you play a string instrument and are traveling to somewhere really really cold, I suggest that you prepare your instrument. my bow wasn’t responding halfway through my audition at IU and i had cleaned my strings and rosined my bow. It had been doing that since I arrived the day before my audition. The only explanation I could come up with now is that it was really dry and cold. Definitely not used to it. Also, my friend was at CIM and came back with a crack in his violin.</p>

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<p>Very good point, gyoun09. When going to auditions in cold weather, the relative humidity can get down below 10% indoors in areas that are not humidified. This can cause cracking or warping in a matter of hours. For those with wooden instruments, it is essential to keep the instrument (and bow where applicable) in the case when not playing, to use an instrument humidifier inside the case, and to make sure the humidifier has not completely dried out at least once or twice a day.</p>