@DrummerDad18 glumly staring at the drizzle while deciding whether I need my parka here in NJ. Don’t be jelly.
I didn’t think I’d be envious of you Miami auditioners while in Los Angeles, but it’s a bit colder here than I had hoped. Still, 60 degrees and blue skies is a definite improvement over wearing my parka in NY. Good luck to all auditioning this weekend!
Definitely jealous of the folks in Miami today!
Going back to the Dyas article, he has lots of good advice, but I’m pretty dubious about the notion that there’s a direct numerical correlation between the number of tunes you know and the dollar amount of your scholarship, particularly a correlation that applies across all schools, students and individual circumstances. Even Dyas acknowledges that he has not done any empirical research on the subject. So I would read it less literally and more as a reinforcement of the point that building repertoire is important for a young jazz musician, which is true for a variety of reasons.
In any event, for those with students in the middle of audition season, I agree that sharing the article with them is unlikely to be helpful. They are where they are at this stage. It’s pretty clear that they have a lot of talent, passion and drive, and I have no doubt that they’ll end up at good places where they can thrive and continue to develop musically over the next four years.
Good luck to everyone! The finish line isn’t that far away, at least for this stage of the journey.
I spent a lot of the audition time and then orientation and move in-time thinking: I wish I was going to college. Good luck to everyone!
As we in the Seattle area get ready for more snow, which doesn’t compare at all to the amount the Midwest/NE gets yet paralyzes our entire region, and as I read about everyone’s weather challenges during auditions, I’m getting anxious about S’s auditions next year. Not sure how we’ll make it since the 6-8 schools we’re considering all require plane travel, and none to Miami. I’m jotting down all your great suggestions, like booking early flights in case of cancellations. I applaud all of you who have made it this far. Good luck to everyone this weekend!
Best wishes to all of you traveling and auditioning this weekend!
My S is at a festival with his school choir at a local university and doing his voice audition there today, but I didn’t have to go along, so I’m enjoying a day “off” and some Arizona sunshine. I also made travel arrangements for his last audition in March, someplace cold and remote. I halfway hope he will get an acceptance at one of his other schools before then and decide to cancel, but then again, what if it’s just the perfect place for him? Sigh.
Is anyone’s student hitting the wall? My S, who has been a champ up until now, has suddenly begun stressing about his final audition next weekend. It’s like I am seeing an arc: nervous (but pulled it out) in December, at the top of his game in late Jan/early Feb, and now basically over it. He’s not worried about tomorrow’s NYU audition because a) it’s ten minutes long and b) It’s all material he already knows, but for some reason he’s convinced he’s going to royally screw up the last, more lengthy audition next week. This morning he talked my ear off about the fact that he would never be able to get his one final song to a place where he feels comfortable with it…and the studio head is renowned as a harsh listener…and he’s going to make a fool of himself and embarrass himself and his teacher – all highly unlikely. And uncharacteristic! It’s one of his top 3 schools but the others were, by most accounts, a harder admit. Anyone else going through something similar?
One small but somewhat important bit of advice for everyone auditioning at USC Thornton this coming weekend: lunch is on your own and whenever you can squeeze it in. With that in mind, I’d recommend going over to USC Village (a short walk from Thornton across the street on the other side of Jefferson). It’s closer than most of the options on the main campus, and the selection is good. I’ve eaten at a few different places over there, and liked them all, plus there’s a Trader Joe’s and a Target in case you need supplies of any kind. https://www.uscvillage.com/shops/?category=dining
CaraCoMO———SFCM audition was very interesting (and surprising) for my son who expected a private audition. If I have to guess, SFCM wants to see how applicants (kids!) play with other applicants (kids!) in the group setting to decide who would fit well in their learning environment. Other pre-screening conservatories give a “private audition” to find depth of individual musicality and personality. I do think that it would be harder for some applicants to play with other people together “instantly” but it happens all the time in jazz because it is probably nature of jazz music. My son needed to play some other applicants’ repertoire (even SFCM asked all applicants to list 8 “audition” tunes to prepare in an application) so his “less-than-100 repertoire” helped just fine.
Tripletmama———Your daughter’s 120 repertoire would be great for the SFCM audition!
@akapiratequeen If my son has been nervous (or excited) (or anything) about auditions, then he hasn’t really let on to it. I think he will be very, very happy if he gets into his reach school and beyond that, I have no idea how he really feels. If anything, I think he is too laid back about the whole thing.
He is also going into these auditions fairly clueless about the specific school/studio/instructors in most cases. Maybe ignorance is bliss!
Hopefully your son was just having a moment - it doesn’t sound like he’s screwed anything up yet and isn’t likely to start now. Hope he’s feeling better this evening.
Thank you, @JeJeJe. I agree, I won’t mention the 200 songs. My husband went to SF with him and will go to NY with him. He’s on his own for UNT (we visited last spring and he did a summer workshop there). I will go with him to the more local ones in KC and Lawrence. If we didn’t have the frequent flyer miles then there’s no way we could have afforded this.
@JeJeJe my son knew what the format was going to be for SFCM because he has an online friend there who filled him in on it. It was completely different than what he did for Berklee, but he felt pretty good about it overall.
Wow - you have all been really busy! I can’t fathom 200 songs and applaud all your kids that are working so diligently to expand their repertoire.
S has his 15 minute audition at BU today. Somewhat low key and no interview which was odd as all the other schools at least ask him about his plans and other schools. They had a lot of practice rooms although he had to wait for someone to open up one that had more equipment (timpani, marimba etc.). The professors were amused that S had put a castanet excerpt on his list - evidently no one has done that yet - and they had him play it. All in all s said it went well.
We did a quick campus tour that unfortunately wasn’t led by a music student so we left partway and got lunch. I think if S gets in and he’s interested we will have to go back and get a more in-depth tour.
Now we’re are on our way to Cleveland for the CIM audition on Sunday. I think both of us are looking forward to a day off.
@Busy_Momma - we are missing the Snowpocalypse right now and not sure we will be able to fly home Sunday. My advice to you is to be willing to drive approximately 2 hours to ensure a direct flight whenever possible. Alaska has flights to many cities near enough we have found. Much better than connecting in Chicago, Minneapolis or Detroit.
@akapiratequeen hope your S is just overtired and feels more confirdent for his NYU audition.
Thanks, @Lendlees for the suggestion. Reading your last post makes me tired already. Hoping that Seattle thaws out enough for you on Sunday for you to be able to drive home safely from the airport.
Congrats to everyone who survived another audition and best of luck if you have more to go this weekend!
It was an exhausting but positive audition experience at Frost. My daughter auditioned for the MADE program with CAM minor.
Took the advice of others here and arrived around 8:30am (agenda said to arrive at 8am.) Attended the opening meeting which began around 9am. Parents were dismissed and students stayed for the theory test. My daughter felt the theory test was one of the easiest so far, which was a surprise.
I rushed over to the practice rooms in Foster Hall and snagged a piano room while my daughter was still taking the test. Her aunt was with us today so we were a bit of a tag team and I was able to stay put until she finished her exam. Worked out great because she had a solid 1.5 hours to rehearse (her audition time was 11:45am.)
While she was rehearsing, I had a parent meeting with the Dean which was informative regarding the curriculum and some general info.
Met back up with her after the meeting and walked her to the audition building which was very close to the practice room. They were running about 30 minutes behind but we chatted with the other students/parents who were waiting and everyone was very friendly so the time went fast.
She auditioned with the head of the songwriting department and a music theory professor. Both were very friendly and laid back and made her feel comfortable. She was told to be prepared with 3 originals but they only asked her to perform one full song and then they asked her to play them one of her recorded songs, which they gave nice feedback on and asked about her inspirations for songwriting/methods. They asked her to do some sight reading on the piano and she probably fumbled a bit (not her strength) but they said not to worry because they have classes to help in those areas. She felt pretty good overall.
We were able to grab lunch before the forum and studio class, both of which she enjoyed attending. The MADE audition-only band performed and we were very impressed!
Our day ended around 3:30pm and we were exhausted! I have no idea how the jazz students made it through the 5pm jam.
It was a great bonus meeting @DrummerDad18 and his talented daughter today. My daughter had already met them at the Berklee audition so our girls got to hang out a bit, which was nice.
The weather was perfect and this school takes the prize in that category! We were very impressed with how friendly the faculty and students were and the MADE/CAM department had a nice “family vibe” and the students seemed very supportive of one another.
Only 2 more auditions to go…getting closer : )
@AmyIzzy that sounds like a perfect audition day! Congrats!!!
Congratulations @AmyIzzy. Sounds like a a great day. And you can now begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Let’s see; 3 auditions down and 3-4 more to go. S is scheduled for an audition at Cal State Long Beach tomorrow, but still isn’t sure he wants to go! Yikes. The cello prof emailed him, said he was looking forward, and asked if my son wanted to meet beforehand to go over the audition. He needs to decide tonight!
Had an audition at Biola today. Was supposed to be 30 minutes followed by a 1 1/2 hour music theory test. However, the audition/lesson turned into 2+ hours! It was just with the cello teacher, but still, we were ready to drive home after that (my poor 14-year-old was just resting in the car the whole time). I was able to get them to let my son do the test at home with me as a proctor. He liked the teacher.
Found out he was admitted to the BM program at Univ. of Nevada, Reno, so that’s 2 schools where he’s been admitted to the music degree.
Well, the decision is done. He decided not to apply to Long Beach. He really does want a smaller school. Last minute pull out; oh well!
Congrats @sbjdorlo on the admit! I think it makes sense to drop where the kid just isn’t interested. There’s stress enough in the process as it is.