Oh you wise and experienced parents - what do you think it means when a summer festival says “our waitlist is a bit fluid so we can’t tell you where you fall on the list.” ?? One festival told her exactly where she was on the list, presumably ranked by audition, but this one said their list was “fluid”. What does that mean and how do they determine who to call next? Any experience out there?
Thanks in advance!!
Which festival? Understandable if you don’t want to disclose for privacy purposes, but different festivals, different operations.
Some festivals try to balance participation by gender, age and home base of the participants. They publish this info and want to show a variety of backgrounds. This makes for "fluidity"as the festival prefers to replace anyone declining with a waitlist candidate showing similar demographics. Another instance, if the festival applicants request studio placements for private study, waitlist candidates may have to be matched with openings in a particular studio.
I’m familiar only with the bigger summer classical festivals and string student placements. No experience with voice or jazz or composition summer opportunities.
^Agree with this. May be related to teacher preference. (Both the student’s preference of teacher and the teacher’s preference of student.)
“Fluid”
could also mean that it moves quite a bit, so let’s say a student turns them down: they go through the waitlist and the next four people all quickly say “No thanks, i’ve already committed somewhere else,” and then they call your child. Your child was actually fifth on the list but they didn’t want to tell you that lest you refuse the waitlist offer, thinking they would never get down to number 5. They want to keep as many people as possible on the waitlist in case they need to dip deeply into it. Keep the faith! If it were me, i would call that festival and tell them “I understand i am on the waitlist/ i wanted you to know that I will accept immediately if called.” That gives them some measure of security knowing they have a sure thing, and it might just bump up your ranking.
@Momofadult that makes a lot of sense!
@Music2023 - yes she has communicated that to them so they are aware of her eagerness to go.