Sphinx is awesome; if my kid were eligible he would be involved with them. They also have a great catalogue of cello music available by composers who are outside the normal repertoire lists. They are a stand-out organization.
Wow, trips with three schools each? Amazing. Our list of schools is all over the country, and I can’t imagine trying to get auditions to line up so that can happen. I’m so happy you had a good time and she found her path.
Question for those who have prescreen results from USC (and same for any other prescreen schools): Did they give you an exact time and date, for which they assume you will show up? What can you do if that date does not work, for example conflicting with a performance at home or another audition? We’ve done just one audition so far, and it was required in-person 3,000 miles from home on a particular date. We are very lucky we could make that happen.
Well it was a taste of a jet-setting lifestyle to which we were not and have not become accustomed. 
Since we live on the West Coast, we needed to coordinate travel plans/auditions as much as possible.
Once past the prescreen, my D’s experience was that schools tell you the days that are open and you submit your request. For example, at USC, her specific studio had 2 different audition days available, and she requested and got the day that worked for her.
Also, our experience was that schools were usually kind and tried to make accomodations when possible–depending on the professor’s schedule. Rice allowed her to audition a day early in order to make a band trip, and the professor at Michigan was willing to schedule on a non-audition day so that she could go to All-NW.
When possible though, it’s nice to go on official school audition days. There are tours and panel discussions and parent info about funding and sending your kid to music school. USC had tables of swag for prospective students, and Frost provided breakfast (and a meet and greet with some of the professors–fortunately D had been warned by a student from the previous year, so she was ready to be “on” when the professor came looking for her at 8:30am–5:30am West Coast time).
Yes, we went to Frost and I enjoyed the coffee! It was busy, and we did not get any time to talk with professors. We heard a presentation, saw performances, and had a tour, but the outsides of buildings only, no indoor tours. They were overwhelmed with so many applicants, I think. One lucky accident was that a bass player was doing his senior recital that day, so we got to see an amazing performance by a current student.
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JayJay, I agree that representation has been and still is deplorable. There is also still significant gender inbalances on some instruments. Your S may have seen this in flute as my daughter has in percussion. I am very sorry to hear about your experience at USC. So disappointing. The one thing I can say is that USC has little or no control over who decides to show up for a campus visit, but they do have control over who they decide to admit. I’ve seen the Thornton Symphony, and they have representation that you did not see on your campus visit. It may not be an optimal balance, but nonetheless, they are definitely not an all pale male group.
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I agree with the vibe at Miami and my son felt the same thing. It felt like a sales pitch with little warmth and interest in the students. I understand that they were busy and booked up with auditions but this is something that Frost could have done better!
I had no reference for it and neither did my kid - it was his first audition - but I don’t think either of us were prepared for the crowd! I can’t speak for him, but it seemed overwhelming. I left feeling confused about traveling thousands of miles to meet…no one. It sounded like the audition itself was more friendly and welcoming than the general vibe, so that’s good. My kid wasn’t turned off and would be excited to go there. We’ll see how the next auditions go. I so wish we could find out ahead of time how many students will be auditioning on a given day at each school. We could have talked about it and been mentally prepared.
Were you able to sit in on any classes at the same time? Especially for schools that are hard to get to…
Has anyone heard from UCLA about precreening results for music performance?
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At Frost? On audition day, no way. My guess is there were at least 150 students auditioning, and it was too busy. We had only two days in town. This would be a good thing for us to ask about at the next auditions.
At the Herb Alpert School of Music (my son plays trumpet).
Thanks very much for your kind reply. And yes, I agree on the gender imbalance of instruments which is why I was hoping that would help him stand out and I would hope so for your daughter.
After I saw your message, I went to the Thornton YouTube channel to surf videos of past symphony performances and had to squint to catch what you say. LOL! It’s all good!
We went back to the grind, he and I worked on his musician website that we’d been planning, assembled a really good YT portfolio channel, then contacted AO to ascertain if we could submit additional recordings and some research thesis and supplementals. It was a kick in the butt reminder of the competitiveness of it all and to not take anything for granted. He was giving me push back on the importance of polish.
He seemed to think all that mattered was substance. I have a PR, news and media background so he finally came around after this weekend! ha!
Thanks for your very thorough and thoughtful reply. I am aware of the progress, the accomplishments of the conductors and composers you mention, and the efforts of conservatories and I also agree with your assessment that money is not necessarily a barrier as is that classical music doesn’t appeal to POC and underrep communities.
I guess that’s why I expected a school with close to less than 1% to give my kid a second look. He has to be a handful of Black Boys in the nation even playing classical music at High level.
Next month, he will represent our entire state at All Eastern and was a standout at several honors bands, did a solo during All State, was the only flautist who thought to bring his/her picollo to the performance so I was sure he would make pre-screens at least.
Oh well. He has one live audition in his rearview and at least one more ahead. Waiting on one more prescreen and he’s done for this music app season. In the end, he might just settle on ecological biology and skip music altogehter if it doesn’t work out. Doesn’t help the field much when the few out there get shut out.
onward and upward! Good luck to all for Live auditions!
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I just wanted to acknowledge your comment about representation in classical music (@BoyFluteMom . My D is a classical vocalist and half Asian (but looks Asian…unless not quite Asian enough for a role…that’s happened). It has been questioned “out loud in front of her” if she would be appropriate for a “white” role (traditionally). Could the audience really accept that? But there is never a question putting white singers in Madama Butterfly as Japanese (with yellow face). The audience will “get” that. It’s strange how these gatekeepers seem completely unaware of the bias or inappropriate comments.
My D has experienced more respectful treatment and better roles with smaller, regional companies. I feel that they are more nimble…and see an opportunity. They also seem less in their heads about “tradition”…a red flag for “keep it white”. My D also works closely with a company (opera and musical theater) that she feels has really been expanding repertoire and representation (not simply talking about it). She feels seen as a whole artist…not just a diversity hire. So there are positives out there.
The major opera in our area did expand its offering as well. That’s a start. Having a smaller opera stage for the “emerging operas”. Fine…audience can be smaller for new works. My D got contacted for a production that was exciting…until she found its rehearsals would start in one month! She was booked…and they seemed surprised that they couldn’t hire a group of POC vocalists in a short time. I guess they didn’t know they were working? The main stage performers are booked generally a year to 2 years in advance. Tongues were wagging in the community on that “oversight”. The next quesiton is: will she be approached again if it’s not an “Asian show”. We’ll see. And maybe the opera company will report…there just aren’t enough Asian vocalists so we can’t do that again. Of course, there are plenty if you make an honest effort.
Hang in there. Do encourage your kid to use his gut instinct on the teacher/program. And YES, dig in to see who is in the current program and what are they performing? You don’t want to get stuck in a “traditional” program where teachers love doing the same works in the same way over and over and over. My D says that there is a tendency towards that with real “academic” professors. She tries to avoid these teachers/professionals and look for ones who understand the tradition but want to move it forward in new ways. Look for dynamic teachers/programs as opposed to traditionalists…imho. They do exist and may be the perfect fit. Honestly you may have missed a bullet!
Good luck. I sure hope he makes it. He’s’ very needed!
They gave an exact day and time. The email said they couldn’t guarantee any change requests but did give a link to request one.
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Thanks! Wow! Lots to take in! Appreiciate this wisdom!
He passed Oberlin Pre-screen today!
Now I wonder if I should have pressed him about the artist website and YouTube channel which gives a student a chance to present their entire body of work in a polished format and stand out! We just sent them out yesterday to all the schools. Definitely gonna include them for the RD apps for sure!
ETA: If anyone wants to see the channel and website we made to see a template, message me.
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Congrats! FWIW, my S is a voice major there. 1/2 of the freshman class of voice majors identify as POC. I can’t say what the instrumentalists’ ratio is, but I do know it is an incredibly inclusive music school and they do make an effort to be inclusive with the music they choose to perform.
Best of luck with auditions!
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So S24 spent a week at the oberlin flute studio this summer and was very impressed by not only Alexa Still but the diversity and inclusiveness of the flute studio. The TA who ran the program was a male POC
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