Hello all, sorry for not replying to earlier comments…i was super busy with competitions, etc. Anyhow, sorry for hijacking this thread, but I just learned I made it to the final round of curtis piano auditions! Does anyone know how long this audition is, and how many people they let through?
Can’t believe I’m saying this, but my daughter’s final two auditions are done! With the first way back in October, she made it through eight auditions and one portfolio submission and now we can just focus on the waiting game. What a relief! She has four offers thanks to EA (so glad she took advantage of some early action opportunities)-three of which are within our comfort zone financially. So we wait on 5 decisions and hope the time passes quickly.
Her final two auditions went very well. She liked the vibe of New School. It was run very smoothly and efficiently with check-in 30 minutes prior and 15 minutes to practice before the audition. We appreciated how organized everything was. We met the amazingly talented, sweet and extremely helpful daughter of @SpartanDrew who generously took us on a quick tour and answered tons of questions my daughter had. What a bonus that was and a testament to how wonderful this CC community is!
We arrived later than we wanted to at the City College audition and just as she was about to enter her practice room, an audition panelist asked if she could do her audition early due to a cancellation. Although I’m sure she wanted to say no, she smiled and agreed, handling it like a pro. She really enjoyed that final audition and said it was laid back and they were very friendly and gave positive feedback. One member of the audition team even spoke to us in the hall for a bit and said she did a great job. The music theory test was a little more challenging than some she had, and included some jazz history questions, but she felt pretty good about it and said it was for placement purposes so she wasn’t too worried. It was extra special to end on a strong note! She was smiling brightly as we exited that final audition which made this whole crazy journey worth it. We were laughing about the funny, weird, extra stressful moments over the past several months (kind of like our blooper reel-lol) and I will definitely cherish all those memories.
Virtual high fives to all as we join those in the “finished and waiting patiently” category. Definitely a time of anxiety but exciting at the same time!
@Lyoder2051 - Wow! Congrats on making it through to the final round of Curtis!!! That is quite an accomplishment!! I feel like we have a celeb among our midst. You must be so very excited!!! Where else are you auditioning? If you made it that far at Curtis, the world is your oyster.
@AmyIzzy - Whew! So glad that your daughter ended on a high note (no pun intended) - and the audition trail is done for you!!! What stamina your family had! It sounds like she has so many great options. Hopefully the decision will be easy.
Congrats @Lyoder2051 and @AmyIzzy. And now we wait…!
Congratulations, @Lyoder2051 . So excited for you!
Congratulations, @Lyoder2051. That is fantastic news!!! Good luck in the finals
@lyoder2051 Congratulations! I feel like an audition at Curtis is something you put on your CV… Whether or not you are offered admission, being asked to audition there is a huge deal!
Congrats @Lyoder2051. I wish I could give you details of this stage of the process but I know of nobody who got this far. So you are in an elite group for sure! How exciting! Please keep us posted.
I found some great reading for all of us who will need to pass the time over the next few agonizing weeks. This was last year’s journey thread starting around today’s date. They made it though this process somehow, and so can we! Thanks to all the veterans who still visit us here to cheer us on and give us encouragement and advice. You will definitely recognize many of their user names! These are the experts we rely on and appreciate so much!
Well S had his last high school theater performance last night—another great love and talent of his (he received the best actor award at our state’s theater festival this year). The four show run was keeping our minds off the wait for acceptances but now wife and I are seriously depressed that his amazing run on stage is over—although depending on where he ends up, he may try to add theater to his focus on music in college. This is such an emotional time for all these great kids (and us parents). Hang in there everyone!
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Hello all, just thought id update you on my final audition.
First the good news:
- Out of the 80+ people who auditioned, only 13 were called back for finals
- Of these, 4 will be admitted (that is how many spots curtis has), so for those od mus who made it, that is a 30% acceptance rate!!!
- All the judges said thank you after I played. Doesn’t mean anything lol but based on past audition experience it means they liked it. Or they could simply have been polite.
Now the bad news: - My mom had a dream that I would be asked to start with movement 2-3 of my Beethoven which are my weakest.
- That actually happened. No overt disasters but nonetheless, definetly not great to be asked to start with your weakest pieces.
- I didnt get to play as much of my favorite/best piece as I would have liked.
@Lyoder2051 , this is a great accomplishment no matter what happens. Where else have you applied? And oh, the mom anxiety dreams!! We have all been there,…
More like 5% acceptance rate (taking into account that 80 auditioned)!
@Lyoder2051 I wish you the best of luck and am keeping my fingers crossed for you! My son made it to the final 20 bassists, and has heard he did not get into Curtis. He was applying for a Post Baccalaureate Performance Certificate. I am so proud of him though. I don’t know yet how many they decided to take.
Thank you everyone for the support! At least my auditions ended on a good note…now all we have to do is wait for decisions !
Someone asked me where else I applied…its a pretty long list.though i havent heard back from any schools officially, a few told me what they thought about my playing; anyways just listing random thoughts with each school.
- SFCM (Likely admit, professors shown much interest in teaching me). Cool school; fits SF well.
- Thornton: (likely admit, apparently one prof said my audition was one of the best he had ever heard). Campus somewhat boring. Good professors though.
- UCLA (likely admit, chair of dep. Said I played great). I actually prefer campus to usc.
- ASU (accepted) beautiful campus, great facilities. Safety school.
- Peabody (noooo idea.) Gorgeus building.
- NEC (Likely admit. Will I get into my 1st choice teachers studio is another question entirely). My fav architecture. Good faculty.
- Mannes (likely admit. Prof said there is no question about me getting in. ) good faculty, liked the emphasis on revolutionary.
- NYU (Likely accept, prof said that they plan to give me top music scholarship). Interesting campus.felt kind of barren though.
- Julliard (likely reject. Audition went horrible). Awesome campus! Not the scary cutthroat atmosphere everyone describes.
- curtis: (likely reject. Second round went pretty bad. ) so far my fav. Beautiful buiding, faculty are nice.
@Lyoder2051 How much do you practice?
It’s my favorite question for everyone. Anyone else can answer, too.
My D’s a vocalist who also studies guitar and piano. Her piano teacher is an Eastman grad and has said she practiced 6-7 hours a day when in college. I can’t imagine!!! Obviously, vocalists can’t practice that long and between D’s major, 2 minors and 2 secondary instruments… she doesn’t have 6 hours in her day even if she wanted to practice that long!
I try to practice 5 hrs a day…which isnt really enough lol.
What anti anxiety meds work best while waiting for results??? Asking for a friend… 
@HereWeGoAgain2018 I’m following the replies… lol! This waiting is no joke.
Does anyone know off-hand what all goes into faculty deciding which students to admit? Before (she had a lesson with desired professor while in town) and after my Ds audition at her #1 pick, which went extremely well, the desired professor offered tons of praise, even telling me how talented she is. During her lesson and in a follow-up email after the audition he indicated that he would love to work with her in the fall and that he is in her corner and planning to go to bat for her to get her there. There are 4 studios at this particular school and she auditioned in front of all four professors and was super confident about how her audition went. Do you think they all have to agree or something, even though she wouldn’t be in their studios? Prior to this, I thought that if the professor really desired to work with her then he could simply pick her. I guess I missed something…
@HereWeGoAgain2018 - I have been relying on unusually large doses of chocolate!