Toi, toi, toi! Let us know how it went!
Great thing about Blair - having Vanderbilt options and resources available to you, as a student!
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ED wasn’t an option for us anywhere, as we would need to know what schools actually would cost. Kid applied EA where he could(3 schools). Blair app was sent in early to be eligible for the scholarships with a Dec 1st deadline, as was the case also with BU. First live audition was yesterday, with UNCG. Most of the BM students there are Music Education. Fabulous music library, especially for cello.
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Were you at Frost yesterday? That was huge. I’m so glad she was happy, regardless of school.
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My D got her three applications and pre-screens submitted December 1, by 10:30 pm. 
Applicant for voice MM, only three schools: U Michigan, Eastman @ Rochester, and NEC. Hitting big or going home…
Just returned from Christmas at Luther where D sang in choir and played cello in the orchestra. It was an awesome event, and a great senior-year moment.
Looking forward to the new year. Good luck to you all!
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To follow up on my own question about clothing: Our experience at Frost was that there were something like 150 applicants (a guess) and the clothing ran the gamut from formal dress to running shorts and a t-shirt. In fact, the person wearing the latter looked really nice and neat, whereas some students in more formal clothing looked uncomfortable. From seeing such a big range of style, I got the sense that being yourself truly is the most important thing.
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Hello, new to this board… had a couple of questions about how to prep for auditions. My son is a pianist and just submitted 8 pieces for Dec 1 deadline to a handful of schools. He has had one zoom audition in one of his EA schools and that was relatively chill. I would be grateful if there is anyone with piano audition experience what the faculty are trying to evaluate (other than some of the comments about curiosity, attitude etc.).
Would they ask the students to start at arbitrary places?
Would they go into analysis (theory)?
Would they ask students to play pieces in their repertoire list but NOT in the prescreening/audition list?
If they do ask kids to play in random places, would they allow sheet music or would it be like “can you play from subject 2 in the recapitulation”? or “can you play from the transition to the F#”? etc?
Schools are USC, Northwestern, Rice-Shepherd, CMU, UCLA, UMich.
First kid applying for piano performance. Thank you for the advice.
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Not a piano performance parent here, but I would venture to say that classical instrumental performance auditions would be similar for all instruments, including piano.
A few thoughts based on my kid’s experiences a few years ago.
Some auditions allowed him to choose the order of pieces and run through from beginning to end. However, many did not. It was not uncommon (likely in the interest of time) for him to be stopped and told to start again in another spot. Ideally, students should be comfortable stopping and starting anywhere in their pieces and with directions such as “start at the key change to d minor or please skip to the exposition.” Not a problem to ask for clarification, but ideally if the audition is without music, student should continue without music. Another tip is to be prepared if you are asked to repeat something but perhaps at a different tempo or with a different interpretation. It does not mean you are doing anything wrong, often they want to see how you incorporate feedback.
I have not heard of any questions during the audition related to music theory. Some schools (USC for example) administer a separate theory test on the day of the audition.
In my son’s experience, everything he was asked to play was from the audition list. He was asked to sight read on occasion.
What they are looking for is talent, technique, tone, intonation, musicality and musical promise.
Be as prepared as you can be, practice different scenarios in front of different audiences and you will shine!
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I was at Frost EA audition on Saturday, too! I really hope I get in and you/your loved one too.
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I’ve been gone a few months. I have applied to ten schools and I have gotten into three music schools: UNF, FGCU, and BW
(Just got into Baldwin Wallace today, actually)
Did anyone else apply to any of these schools through the early round?
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Congrats, futuremusicedmajor! My daughter really liked BW Wallace and got in there as a cello and a voice major four years ago (although she would have had to choose). Sounds like you are on a roll!
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I’m hoping prescreening decisions will be released before Christmas! It would be nice to start planning (or recovering)…!
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That would be fantastic!
But majority I think is announced in January. Correct me if I am wrong.
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You are probably right. My older son auditioned three years ago but I honestly can’t remember!
It’s a mixed bag. In the past, they seemed to start coming in strong in mid-Dec…then a lull with more coming throughout January.
Remember schools do take a break for the winter holiday. So as you are anxiously waiting for results, the adminstrators and their students helper are swishing down the slopes, resting on the beach, having a drink or two with family and friends…as you worry.
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My child auditioned UNCG this past weekend. He was playing one concerto, one show piece, and a Bach that required re-tuning. He started with the concerto, was stopped after a bit, told to play the showpiece next so that he could re-tune afterwards, was stopped during the showpiece, and was allowed to play the two Bach movements in their entirety. He wasn’t asked to skip around within the pieces. I imagine this is one of those things that differs according to who is on your panel.
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Thank you! It was fun for me, as a parent, but I’m sure it was intense for you students. I felt like it was a welcoming atmosphere, and the students we talked to all felt pretty good about their audition experiences. Now, on to work on several other auditions and applications!
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Hi there! Does anyone have experience with the prescreening processes for UNT and USC? I read on another thread that USC does not advance many students to a full audition. UNT looks to admit 4 to 6 jazz students per year, so I wonder how many they invite out of the typical 50 to 75 applications. I’m curious what to expect.
I can’t answer specific questions about jazz or how many people they let through the prescreen, but my son is a senior in the college of music. Audition days at UNT are very busy and bustling. Lots of people auditioning. They are also informative and well organized. Lots of info sessions. My son was able to arrange to sit in on some classes the day before the audition and found that really helpful as well.
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Thank you for this. Picturing a big, bustling audition day paired with a program that lets in four students makes me wonder about how much of our resources we should put toward auditioning in person at UNT. Of course, there is no reason my kid would not be one of those four, and It is one of the top programs in the country, but he’s also applied to some other schools in Chicago, New Orleans, New York, etc., that look great for a jazz major. We can probably visit three schools total, and Frost was one of them.
USC’s jazz page says this:
Applicants who live more than 100 miles from the USC campus and are unable to travel to Los Angeles for their live audition due to financial hardship can request an online audition on their Thornton SlideRoom Portfolio. Applicants who live within a 100-mile radius of the USC campus are required to perform their live audition in person.
Please carefully note that a requested online audition may be scheduled on a date that does not fall on one of our regularly scheduled audition weekends, and it is not guaranteed that all online audition requests can be granted.