@eh1234 I am so glad to hear it went well!! Ithaca seemed really special to my S too. I’m not sure it’s as big a reach as you think…as I recall, your son’s grades and scores were excellent and he has some wonderful playing experience. You mentioned that he started “late” in seventh grade, but my son started in 6th and didn’t buckle down until 8th, so I don’t think you need to be a child prodigy!
From last year’s acceptance thread, it looks like Ithaca lets people know pretty early — late Feb or early March. Keeping everything crossed for our sons.
Herewegoagain2018 no offense taken whatsoever. No personal investment in any schools on my part Just always conscious of the now 67.5k views of this thread. And the different genres being pursued by the applicants here.
@eh1234 - Great to hear about positive experience at Ithaca. Was the auditioning instructor Mr. Walker? He is a wonderful teacher, performer and composer. He was the most gracious host to ISB 2017. Fingers crossed for a positive audition outcome.
@HereWeGoAgain2018 Yes! I have no doubt that this would be the best place for my son to grow as a musician out of the places he applied.
Also you reminded me that I need to get my son his ISB membership, which I meant to do last summer when he found out that it exists. (Like I’ve said, my kiddo is a little late to join the bass community)
@akapiratequeen Thanks for the clarification on the Ithaca notification date. DH says that maybe the “mid to late March” was in reference to financial aid. He doesn’t always pay attention.
So happy to read accounts of what sounds like a great round of auditions this weekend!
S had his jazz guitar audition at UCLA yesterday. He was extremely happy with the way it went from the playing to the discussions that ensued after he played. The head adjudicator told him “we’ll see you next year” and the other two adjuciators echoed that sentiment. We are taking that feedback as good, but not banking on it, as he received similar feedback from Northwestern during the ED round and then did not get in. Interestingly, after S packed up and left the audition room, an adjudicator came out and asked him if he would come back in and comp for the next auditioner (a trombonist) as their guitar player was running late. He happily obliged. Today we are driving 90 miles south to Carlsbad for S to have an audition with the UCLA guitar teacher. As of this moment, UCLA has climbed to the top of his list. . . . .
It’s rare to finish a piece in an audition. It’s said the adjudicators know what they need to within the first few seconds. Sometimes they will ask the auditioner to replay a section with some adjustments–that is generally meant to see how they work, how they take direction, etc.
@lkbux64 SO happy to hear about your son’s experience at UCLA. What a great school for jazz guitar! Very exciting. Love that they asked him to sit in – that’s a huge compliment. Hope the lesson goes as well as the audition. Remind me: is UCLA local for you?
So great to hear about everyone’s successful audition weekend. @lkbux64 that sure sounded very promising!
We are gearing up for what I call “Round 2” of the audition circuit. Heading to Boston on Thursday for BU and then straight to Cleveland for CIM. To top off the excitement around here, I came home Friday from a week-long conference to find S not feeling well. Sent him to the Dr. yesterday to find out he has strep. Glad we caught it in time to get him antibiotics before we get on yet another airplane. He’s already feeling better so we should be in good shape.
Also - a note for others. We have an extra day in Cleveland and the symphony happens to be playing while we are there. They (and I’m sure many other cities) offer student ticket discounts, so S signed up for that and we have awesome seats for a mere $15 each. Figure anything we can save is a bonus these days. And, he will most likely see some of the professors from CIM playing. Double bonus.
@HereWeGoAgain2018 I’m not offended at all! (also I’m a drummer and it takes a lot to offend us). But I thought “square” didn’t capture the surprisingly avant garde spirit of NEC. It’s not for everyone that’s for sure.
OK everyone - I’m going to make this real. We all write about our wonderful kids and their wonderful auditions - well, I’m ticked off at mine!
Our daughter had her first audition at NEC this morning in Boston. In all respects, it went well. She was well prepared (despite writing her scores at 1am the night before). But as we all know, it’s all in the details.
I’m ticked because I have spent an inordinate time researching and trying to help her maximize her chances of a scholarship to enable her to go to a good conservatory.
Last night I texted her the instructions for today. One of the points was to prepare questions to ask the panel so that they could start a dialogue. She did not. (she probably didn’t even read it). She also ignored my advice to set up a practice lesson at NEC ahead of time. Again - as we all know, having a personal connection is key. She just thinks she can show up and audition, shake the panel’s hands and get a good scholarship! Very naive.
My husband and I have both spent a lot of $$ and energy (and strife) to let her live in LA to get the best instruction. She ignored my advice to put a few schools that are known for giving good scholarships on her audition list (e.g. Oberlin and Miami) and only has 4 schools on her audition list (I look longingly at all of your lists that include these). I’m pissed and I should have put my foot down. The amount of time, energy and money we have spent (while we eat ramen noodles) is ridiculous! I’m kicking myself for not giving her “non-negotiables” on this audition journey. She acts like she knows best.
So - I told her if she doesn’t chase down her references (one of the points in JB Dyas’s article about Getting the Big Scholarship), studying the heck out of sight reading (got her the book), and set up a practice lesson at her remaining 3 auditions - then we will not fund or support it… This is really annoying me (can you tell?). It might have something to do with me not sleeping at all last night as I fielded all her calls about “I don’t have any shoes to wear” to “I can’t sleep” to waking her up (took about 10 calls) and having breakfast delivered and ordering a Lyft (which she was 10 minutes late for) - yup - I’m cranky? Anyone else want to join me in my vent???
So - she’s happy as a clam on her flight back to LA that her audition went well - but I know that she didn’t go the extra mile to ensure that she has a good result. I doubt she even went to any of the information sessions. Oh vey. God help me.
Different situation perhaps but my kids didn’t ask any questions of the panel, though they did ask questions in a one on one interview. They didn’t have practice lessons at all. They didn’t chase down references Sight reading was for placement only.They did fine
.It is possible that doing very well in the audition is the best thing your daughter could do for herself, and that it is also possible that she achieved that. So maybe all will be well
We put similar time and money and energy into our dancer and she decided not to dance in school. I know the feeling. All that driving and all those sacrifices. But your daughter is asserting her autonomy and that strength of will, hard as it is on you, will serve her well perhaps. I know it has mine.
I know you have three and cannot imagine how hard it must be!
It’s not easy being a parent of a performer… ever (probs not of an Olympic-caliber athlete either). But I do remember my daughter once, wisely, saying to me: it’s not about you, mom, it’s about me.
My observations in semi-recent jazz auditions would line up with @compmom 's. The audition session, those 10-30 minutes are the key.
From the JB Dyas article, they key take-away for me was the $1,000 per tune metric. He figures is college costs $200,000 over 4 years (for example), and you know 200 tunes, you will get a full ride. 100 tunes, a hlaf-ride. One could debate over that, but he went so far as to give us something to work with that he saw be the truth on average. So, even there, I interpret that the audition is key because the goodness of your audition will scale to spending enough time to learn those tunes.
I’d add, take care of you. It’s so easy to deplete ourselves in this process. Then we put even more pressure on them because they need to succeed to validate our sacrifice.
Your D is clearly a major talent. But she has to find her own way. A close friend used to say, “You can’t make a plant grow by pulling on the leaves.” If she doesn’t want Oberlin or Miami, no real point in making her do it (says the mom who made her kid add NYU, not even sure why at this point).
It’s very possible that NEC or one of D’s other schools will come through. If not, she’ll work for a gap year. She will grow and thrive in her own time, on her own terms. Meanwhile, maybe take just a little of the creative energy you’re spending on her and do something nice for yourself. Sending hugs from NJ!
S’s lesson with UCLA guitar teacher went well. The one hour lesson turned into a 2-1/2 lesson. At the end, the teacher came out to meet me which was very nice. S is in love with the teacher and the school!
@akapiratequeen — UCLA could not be any less local for us! We live in Westchester county, NY.
Philosophy time. Maybe review and reflect on the “Sunk Cost Fallacy”. I (try to) start each day with a fresh view on what I must do to go forward, as if a reasonable stranger were given my life situation as a story problem and was asked to decide what to do for me. As an investment advisor would recommend selling a stock, not concerned about how much I paid for it (tax and side thoughts to the side), but how much it will help me to do so in the future. If that made any sense, that’s a plus. Best of luck.
Just always conscious of the now 67.5k views of this thread. And the different genres being pursued by the applicants here.