<p>WTG, ilkster and Heidi! Make sure she takes advantage of the masterclasses offered by CS at their convention. My D found them very helpful. Also, the College Expo is probably the only opportunity she’ll ever get to have that many top-flight music schools there available for one-on-one discussions.</p>
<p>Thanks - I’ll be sure to pass your advice on to her.</p>
<p>Congrats to Heidi and ilkster. Another great thing about these competitions (CS and NATS) is that it really prepares the singers for college auditions. After my D’s first audition this season, I asked her if she was really nervous, and her response was: Mom, after doing so many NATS and Classical Singer competitions, I’m used to it…
Another plus is that you may find your D auditioning in the same locations as the competitions. If your D ends up auditioning at CIM, chances are it will be in the same location, with many or all of the same judges! That’s what happened in our case–last year D was a CS finalist from our area, and this year’s first audition was at that school, in front of the same judges, same location. What a confidence booster–(they liked me last year, I’m better now…) She passed the audition, just waiting on the U acceptance, since D didn’t do EA. So, it’s really a great experience regardless of the outcome, IMO. Our musicians really need to master their nerves, for auditions and performances, and the more experience they have doing it , the better!</p>
<p>My D sang C’en est donc fait from La Fille du Regiment in the regionals and won. Then her teacher switched her to Ach ich fuhls in Chicago. The judges all gave her great marks for her singing and mature voice but said that song was not age appropriate. My advice is to pick songs you do really well, that show off your strengths and that you love to sing. (NOT MT) You can’t please everyone with your song choice.</p>