Colleges for Musical Theater Major - Part 33

<p>John246 -- You are telling us that you have read this whole thread and your D has 4 Iveys with no safeties and is thinking about dropping one of the Iveys?! Welcome to the jungle! You must not have seen a performance at Florida State because you would know where they get their rep if you had. Did you schedule those visits in advance or did you just drop in?</p>

<p>Hi, I'm new to this list although I browsed it a bit last summer. We live in northeastern Ohio; my daughter is a sophomore vocal performance/ vocal education dual major at a big state school on a "full ride"-- combination of academic, music, and minority scholarships. </p>

<p>She was in a professional regional theater musical this past summer and it was life-changing (got her first review-- a great one). She passionately wants to do MT for the rest of her life. The problem is that she has virtually no acting experience except for this, and can't really get acting lessons at school. Nor can she get the kind of dance lessons that would help her (she is a good dancer, thanks to a high school show choir she was in, but she will need more training in dance). She also will not be cast in any major school productions because she is not a theater major, and vocal undergraduates are not cast in operas there.</p>

<p>She's looking around for ideas, including transferring to another school or just heading to NYC to audition, audition, audition (which really scares us, frankly). We are fairly close to Kent State University, which has a musical theater program. We have no idea if it is a program that would do her any good. Does anybody have experience with KSU? I mention it specifically because if she transferred, she would lose her "full ride;" and she would be able to live at home if she went to KSU. </p>

<p>I've read lots of good things about other musical theater schools, but we could not afford to send her to a school like Tisch or U of M. We believe she would not be considered for scholarship help, on the level she has been receiving it, at this point in her college career. </p>

<p>I appreciate any information and advice anybody can offer.</p>

<p>Is anyone thinking about auditioning at the Universitey of Arizona? They have a great B.F.A Musical Theater and Acting program, I haven't heard much talk of it on this site yet. just curious</p>

<p>John246,</p>

<p>I'm sorry that you had a bad experience when you visited Florida State. As a parent who's been through the visiting and auditioning process with a D, I'd urge you not to write off schools so quickly. The acceptance rate for most of the top ranked MT programs is painfully small. The rate of acceptance for girls is much lower than for boys. I would have been seriously worried if my D had told me she was only auditioning for 4 top programs. You've said you may be eliminating U.M. from consideration too. Your D may be setting herself up for a fall if she only auditions for 3 schools. </p>

<p>I can guess what happened when you visited FSU. My family and I visited FSU last March to help our D to make her final choice. Before leaving home, I e-mailed the School of Theatre co-chair to ask if a visit could be arranged. I let her know what sorts of classes my D was interested in seeing. We requested seeing an upper division acting class, a movement class, MT studio class, and advanced dance classes. I also asked if it would be possible to set up a private voice lesson and asked if it were possible to get complimentary tickets to the production that was being performed that week. The chair told me that she would have the graduate assistant who worked in School of Theatre office set up a schedule for us. She told me that since dance classes were run by the dance dept., I would need to contact them. She also told me to call her co-chair regarding a private lesson, since she is the person who handles all vocal instruction for MT students. The dance dept. secretary told us we could visit any class we liked and to simply ask the teacher's permission before entering a studio. I had a nice chat with the School of Music MT co-chair. She set up a private lesson for my D. I'd say she spent nearly an hour with her during our visit. Other things weren't quite as smooth. The grad student who was to set up a schedule for us didn't quite understand that since we were driving a very long distance to evaluate the program, we wanted to see as many classes as possible. Being the sort of compulsively organized person I am, I looked through the FSU on-line course catalog before contacting the MT chair and had made up a schedule of classes that I thought my D would be interested in observing. I expected that the grad student would come up with an outline of classes to visit that would be pretty close. He e-mailed me with a schedule for our visit that had exactly one class on it. He did get us tickets for the production we wanted to see. My family and I agreed that we did not want to drive all the way to Florida to see only one class. It wouldn't have helped our D in comparing with her other final choices. I e-mailed the department chair a second time. I copied the outline of classes I had come up with and asked her if it would be possible to visit those classes. She told me she'd speak with the grad student again and make it clear that we needed to see more than one class. The revised schedule we received from him was much improved. When we got to the campus for our visit we heard from a secretary that when students ask to see more than a couple of classes, they prefer that the student contact the instructors directly to ask permission rather than have the office set up the visit. I told her that I would have been happy to do that, but I didn't because I was afraid I'd be overstepping my bounds. She told me that since they are a very large school with a very small office staff, it's difficult for them to arrange detailed visits. I gathered that the MT chair was unaware that the grad student assigned to the office thought that seeing one class was sufficient to evaluate an MT program.</p>

<p>Once we got to FSU, things went pretty smoothly. We saw an excellent production of "Anton In Showbusiness". My D got to speak at length with both of the MT dept. co-chairs. She saw two different acting classes, a movement class taught by the instructor who's also the stage combat teacher (my D had a long talk with him - turns out he knows her stage combat teacer here at home very well), a movement/dance class taught by the co-chair, MT studio, and got to see a video of part of a 6 week workshop taught by Maltby and Shire last February. She also observed several dance classes taught by dance dept. faculty.</p>

<p>In a perfect world, I would not have had to e-mail the MT chair a 2nd time about my D's visit. However, I operate under the assumption that sometimes glitches are going to occur, especially at larger schools. My D did visit and audition for some programs that were small and had a lot of personal touch. One small school assigned her own admissions counselor who sent her personalized notes throughout the admission process. She was great, but my D turned the school down. (We learned fairly early in the game that the schools our D likes best are small MT programs housed in large universities.) At one of the larger schools my D auditioned for (not FSU), the admissions office mailed us a letter saying my D's H.S. transcript had not arrived, therefore placing her audition date in jeopardy. They found it in the admissions office when I called. Thankfully, I called the university before I called the H.S. to complain. The same school lost two of my D's recommendation letters. This school, despite the problems, was one of my D's top picks. I recall a couple of people posting this past week that there were some minor problems at CMU in scheduling auditions. I truly believe that the more students a school has to deal with, whether in the visiting, application, or audition phase, the more likely there are to be problems. There are simply more opportunities for things to go awry. </p>

<p>I am much more concerned about the curriculum my D will be studying, the caliber of the faculty and students she'll be working with, the size and reputation of the program, and the atmosphere under which she'll be working than whether or not the department secretary knows her name when she shows up to audition. As I've stated in other posts, there are no perfect programs out there, but there are quite a few pretty darned good ones. I know that what I wanted for my D was a top program that was a good fit for her. She was lucky that she was accepted to more than one school that would have been good for her. </p>

<p>I hope that you and your D find a school that you'll be happy with. Again, I would urge you not to be too hasty in eliminating schools and to be sure that your D auditions for some mid-range programs as well as "ivies". I wish her all the best at her Oklahoma City audition.</p>

<p>john246,</p>

<p>dancersmom, as always, has given excellent, thoughtful advice here. I would also advise against discounting a particular program simply due to the type of experience you had. Not only because it will limit your D's possibilities but more-so because these types of experiences are not always reflective of the quality of a particular program. </p>

<p>Probably the most important sentence in dancersmom's post was:</p>

<p>" I am much more concerned about the curriculum my D will be studying, the caliber of the faculty and students she'll be working with, the size and reputation of the program, and the atmosphere under which she'll be working than whether or not the department secretary knows her name when she shows up to audition."</p>

<p>These are truly the factors prospective applicants should be investigating, with curriculum probably the most important. Many families/students do not look at the curriculum available for all four years when they're researching possible programs. This is what we, as parents, are paying for, excellent training, first and foremost, yet many kids have no idea what classes are required/available/recommended for their four years at the school.</p>

<p>There have been many positive posts about the FSU program on these forums in the past couple of years. It may, in fact, not be the program for your D but don't let an unsatisfactory visit be the only reason. There are stories about such visits for probably every program out there. We certainly had our difficulties with Tisch and CMU when we began this process what seems like years ago now, but those two schools ended up being my D's 1 & 2 choices, and she ended up at Tisch. The individuals who caused the difficulties in the office there have not influenced my D's experience there in a year and a half, in fact, she's probably had little or no contact with them since. Good luck to you and your D on her search.</p>

<p>Susan, how did your D's b/f's audition go? I've been thinking good thoughts for him this week! :)</p>

<p>Alwaysamom, I don't think she has a full report from him yet as she has been gone all day at her own training and then all tonight at a cast party (me too, involving four hours of drive time for her today and lots of sitting/waiting on my end of it all). She was home in the AM (ironically working on her NYU app) and had a brief call about it. I think it went well. She also got to talk late today with a good friend from here in VT who did her Cap21/Tisch audition with dance for ED today, also was positive and her best friend from CT who did her UMich audition Friday. Hearing positive experiences. Just gearing up here, no auditions yet but first one is in a few weeks. I think the bf's chance at Atlantic is good in terms of his acting talents, but you never know. I think he is stronger in that area than academic review but overall I have a gut feeling he will get in. On the other hand, he is banking on this ED so heavily as to not be doing other apps, not a good strategy in my view. I will try to remember to tell you if he gets into your D's studio, remind me mid Dec. ! She has several friends applying ED to Tisch but most are for Cap but not the bf. His forte by far is acting. He almost did not get to go for ED because not only did he send in his app late but the auditions were all full but by a fluke he got an ED in the end. </p>

<p>Dani, if you are reading this, her bf went to stay at SL's house after his NYU audition and so this AM when my D tried to find out how his audition went, SL got online and posed as bf and said bf missed his audition (as a joke). She also said that SL told her that you had mentioned to S that you had "met" me online, lol. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

<p>Just to toss my two cents in to the FSU consideration question. My D and I took a visit to FSU last spring. All our arrangements were made through the MT chair....via email as I recall (tho we have visited something like 9 schools, so I could be mistaken). We were able to arrange observation of an acting class, a dance class, a sample voice lesson (with the chair) and observation of the mainstage show's dress rehearsal. All ran smoothly, without a hitch. The MT chair spent extensive time with D and myself...answering all questions honestly and frankly we felt. We did not feel rushed despite the fact that she had several students in the hall waiting for her. She gave us ample time and energy. The show we viewed was excellent...the acting was impeccable...comic timing superb. The set for the show was amazing. We left with a very good impression of FSU...believing it is deserving of it's fine impression. We continue to hear good things about FSU from other professors in the MT world.....just this weekend the head of MT at OCU told my daughter that her consideration of FSU as one of her schools was good...."fine program." From our viewpoint, it is one of the schools that centers MT in the music department if a student so desires a BM vs BFA...for D, that's a good thing. FSU continues to be one of D's "top 5" choices.</p>

<p>Fairygodmom1978,</p>

<p>No one seems to be answering your question about Kent State's musical theater program; it is seldom, if ever, mentioned here, and, unfortunately, I don't know anything about it myself. But, since it would be an affordable option for your daughter, I do think it would be worth investigating. It certainly isn't necessary to have a degree from one of the top schools--or any school, for that matter--to succeed in musical theater, as evidenced by the bios in the Playbills from just about every touring and Broadway show.</p>

<p>Perhaps your daughter would consider transferring to either CCM or Wright State University, state schools where the cost might not be prohibitive. CCM's musical theater program is, of course, highly regarded, and Wright State seems to have a strong program as well. The downside for your daughter would be that she would probably have to begin either program as a freshman in the fall, which would delay her graduation by two years. I'm no expert, but it's my understanding that for girls, in particular, the younger they are when they begin auditioning in New York, the better--within reason, of course.</p>

<p>Would it be possible for your daughter to get the acting training she needs by switching her major at her current school to theater or acting or something along those lines without losing too much of her scholarship money? She obviously has a good singing voice; possibly she could continue taking voice classes or even private lessons.</p>

<p>If you live near Cleveland, you might look into Baldwin-Wallace's vocal performance program. BW does at least one opera every year, and, since they have no graduate students, your daughter would gain some acting experience there. I believe BW's vocal performance seniors are allowed to attend some of the musical theater workshop classes, as well as audition for the showcase in New York. BW is more expensive than the state schools, but your daughter sounds like someone who would easily qualify for scholarships there, and if she lives close enough to commute, you would save on room and board. She could also take dance classes there. It might be a way for your daughter to change schools without delaying her graduation. </p>

<p>Good luck to you and your daughter as you try to decide what to do.</p>

<p>Fairygodmom,</p>

<p>I would suggest that you and your D pay a visit to the Kent State campus. Talk to the MT chair and describe your D's background. If I were you, I would want to observe acting and dance classes and try to have my D take a voice lesson. Seeing a staged production would also be informative. My D and I did look briefly at KSU last year. We did not do a campus visit, but I did check out the website thoroughly. KSU seems to have a strong, balanced curriculum. Ultimately, my D decided not to audition for them. One can only audition so many places! </p>

<p>As Alldressed up suggested, your D might want to audition for Wright State and for CCM. I will add the University of Akron to the list. Though she couldn't live at home if she attended any of those schools, she would qualify for in-state tuition. I would suggest speaking to an admissions officer to find out if your D could qualify for any academic scholarship money as a transfer. She might also be eligible for talent money. You'll also want to find out how many of your D's credits will transfer to her new school. There is a strong possibility that she will have to start an MT program as a freshman. Though she may have to spend 4 years at a new school in order to get all of her MT coursework done, hopefully she will not have to repeat any of her general education courses.</p>

<p>If money is not too big an obstacle, your D might want to consider auditioning out-of state. Many programs do accept transfer students. One of the most talented boys currently attending my D's school, FSU, is a 23 year old junior who transferred last year. I don't know much about his academic situation, but I assume that since most kids graduate at age 21 or 22, he lost some time when he transferred. However, he will have his degree in a year and a half and will leave school ready for NYC. I heard him as Curly in "Oklahoma" last month; he sounds ready for Broadway right now.</p>

<p>I hope you'll let us know what your D decides to do. Good luck!</p>

<p>We just survived our first audition trip. And we have how many more to do? LOL. Our audition was at OCU, and since we were in the neighborhood, we also drove down to OU just to look around. They were having a recruiting weekend, so we jumped into a tour of the theatre department as well. The contrast between the two schools was helpful -- the small school with a big program vs. the big, state school with a good but newer program. The little campus in the city vs. the huge campus in the small town. The football crazies vs. the religion classes. So many choices. Thanks for the reminder on the curriculum comparisons - - my D is especially interested in a strong dance program and that alone has eliminated a few schools. </p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who sends in their impressions of the schools. It is so helpful, even it my D's interests don't match someone else's. I wish I had made contact with some of you at OCU. You're such a good resource. My D was ecstatic to meet up with a friend from the CMU pre-college program as well as a friend from local theatre programs. The biggest thrill was to see one of her best friends take the lead in the OCU production, and the best feedback I got was from her mother who has been through it once very successfully and is now starting again with D #2. I just hope to make it through this once!!</p>

<p>I just want to second what john246 had to say about Oklahoma City. We traveled a great distance for my daughter to audition there this past weekend and from start to finish, we felt totally at ease, welcomed, and encouraged by faculty as well as students. We also saw the opera, Hansel and Gretel, and were very impressed as well. As a side note, we saw the same opera performed by NCSA last year and thought it was the most boring, drawn out production we had ever seen. Not so at OCU! It was great! We also really liked the fact that they stress classical voice training (my D's strength is her singing), so a BM in MT seems like just the thing for her. In addition, she has already been offered an incredibly generous amount of academic scholarship money, so all in all OCU will be hard to beat. They will be notifying auditioners in 3-4 weeks, so we should know something in December. In the mean time, we'll keep plugging away at the audition process for her other choices...which are becoming less enticing after visiting and auditioning at both Elon and OCU. Continued good luck to all!!!</p>

<p>I had to add another quick post. Long story short...I am so thankful that I read the earlier posts about what to bring to auditions. At the last minute, I had my D throw an extra auditon outfit into the suitcase and we are sure glad she did. As my D was changing into her audition clothes after her dance leveling at OCU, she noticed that her BRAND NEW sweater had come unraveled on a back seam. Luckily, we had time to go back to the hotel to get her alternate outfit and everything worked out great. Thanks again to whoever recommended bringing extra clothes!</p>

<p>That was me who recommended the extra clothes, and you're welcome! :) I had never even thought of something coming unravelled. I suggested it because of an experience with someone spilling some water on themselves just before auditioning. I'm glad the advice helped you!</p>

<p>Thank you to alldressed up and dancersmom-- I'm glad you wrote. We will go check out KSU for sure. We actually did a campus visit to BW before her serior year. She had taken violin and voice lessons there and could have easily gotten a violin scholarship had she tried (voice is always more problematic-- although at that time she was considered a mezzo soprano and therefore supposedly might have had a sight advantage-- at least that's what the "word on the street" was). She really wanted to go to school away from home, and mostly still does. I felt then that she underestimated what Cleveland had to offer by way of performance opportunities, and feel even more strongly now that we've gotten to know something of the performing arts community here. It's not New York, but there are paying gigs and supportive contacts. I think she sees that now and may reconsider.</p>

<p>We don't know if she would be considered for a voice scholarship if she transferred anywhere. In the past two years her voice has developed into a truly beautiful instrument, a light lyric soprano with coloratura qualities. She has over a four octave range and can belt a high C (she actually has a professor who allows her to belt-- a wonderful lady who has done both opera and Broadway). She is and always has been also luminous onstage. Yet one of her HS classmates, who is bound for classical opera and had top-notch training, didn't get accepted at Cincinnatti in voice (she's at CIM instead). It's hard to guess what works and what doesn't. I don't know if Cincinnatti's musical theater vocal program is as stringent as their vocal performance program??</p>

<p>We're going to try to get her some acting lessons during holday break if we can. That would at least give her more confidence in auditions for musical theater programs as well as stage auditions. Dance lessons too.</p>

<p>I talked with a friend today whose daughter spent a year in New York taking acting lessons privately and worked as a hostess in a restaurant. She's now at Boston studying acting (she's doing theater, not musical theater). She felt that the New York year was a very good thing, and wants the girls to get together over break to talk about this. She's one of several people who have recently said, "if she wants to try New York, let her go." I just want her to have the tools she needs to succeed.</p>

<p>Any perspectives on this?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Fairygodmom,</p>

<p>I don't think it is any easier to be accepted into CCM's musical theater program than into the voice program there--especially for a girl. Still, that doesn't mean your daughter wouldn't be selected! If she's interested in that program at all, she could at least audition and see what happens. A girl we know was turned down for CCM's voice program several years ago but has gone on to have quite a successful career in opera. CCM, like any competitive school, probably has to turn away many talented people.</p>

<p>It's true that Cleveland does offer many performance opportunities. While at BW, my daughter was able to join Actors' Equity by being cast by the director of BW's musical theater program in a small chorus role in a Cleveland show. Might your daughter consider auditioning for BW's musical theater program? The problem there, again, is that she might have to begin her college career all over, though BW may be more flexible about that than CCM or even Wright State. Also, it sounds like BW is a little too close to home!</p>

<p>The idea of spending a year or so in New York is, I think, not a bad one for someone in your daughter's position. She's a little bit older and has been somewhat on her own for awhile. On a lark, someone my daughter knows auditioned for a touring musical when she happened to be in NYC right after graduating from high school and was offered the lead! So, you just don't know what might happen. Does your daughter have friends in New York, someone she could live with? It's so expensive there, but possibly no more costly than the fees at one of the better schools. It's worth considering. If I were in your place and that's what my daughter really wanted to do, I wouldn't hold her back. If things don't work out, she can always go back to college for further training in acting or in a completely different field. </p>

<p>In the meantime, it's good that you're thinking of acting lessons for your daughter over the holidays. Perhaps your daughter could be reading plays in search of a few monologues that an acting coach could help her with for auditioning purposes. Also, I don't know how she found the theater job she had last summer. If she didn't attend one of the large regional theater auditions, she might want to do that in the spring. Sometimes students are cast in as many as five shows over the course of a summer, usually for very little pay, but the experience is invaluable.</p>

<p>I'll be thinking of you and hoping you'll keep us posted!</p>

<p>Thanks for your input about BW, alldressedup. Did your daughter graduate from their musical theater program? Was she happy with the experience overall? </p>

<p>Actually, my daughter got the info about the musical from her high school show choir's choreographer, who was also choreographing the show. That didn't make her a shoo-in, but she at least had a connection. She made a number of connections during the show, and in the cast parties after the show (although she is very vivacious, she doesn't drink, so she assumed the role of designated driver, collecting car keys and shepherding cast members twice her size-- I was very proud of her, and the cast overall really loved her). </p>

<p>She might not be able to live with anybody she knows in NYC, but she does have some contacts. My husband's cousin, who is a real estate agent in NYC (her listings are way too high end for us) has lived there 35 years and would definitely be a resource. She doesn't know any theater people, but knows the city and has contacts in a lot of areas. She's also one of my daughter's biggest fans-- came to Cleveland to see her perform last summer.</p>

<p>I'm getting used to the idea, I guess, although the suburban-girl-in-Metropolis thing is still very scary. My friend told me that her daughter got a job as a hostess at a really great resturant, got off work at 3 a.m., and walked back to her room through dark alleyways. When mom found out about this, she asked the manager to please make sure she got into a cab and she would reimburse them if R. didn't have cab fare. The older men on the restaurant staff told her they had really worried about R. and were glad mom had stepped in. Mom's message to R: you really must have a guardian angel, but you've been making your G.A. work overtime, so it's time to take some precautions yourself! That ended the middle of the night walks.</p>

<p>I'm still hoping she'll get her degree so she has a fallback plan. I'll keep you posted.</p>

<p>Fairygodmom,</p>

<p>Yes, my daughter did graduate from BW's musical theater program. It was a wonderful program for her. As I mentioned earlier, because she went there, she was able to get her Equity card before graduation. And, because BW's senior showcase is combined with those of three other schools, it was fairly well-attended; a few days after it was over, my daughter signed with an agent who had seen her there. I guess that's why I was thinking that if your daughter transferred to BW, even if she stayed with vocal performance, she might be able to reap some of the benefits offered by the musical theater program--advice on headshots, resumes, and auditioning, opportunity to participate in the showcase, etc. In addition, when she did move to NYC, she would have some friends going along. My daughter moved there right after graduation, before any of her classmates, and was so lonely at first; it was heartbreaking to us.</p>

<p>I don't mean to sound too discouraging as far as beginning anew as a freshman in a musical theater program somewhere. It's just that I hear my daughter already saying she's starting to feel old as an actress--at 24! </p>

<p>It's wonderful that your daughter would have someone to help her find a safe place to live in New York--whenever she decides to move there. I wish we had had a resource like that.</p>

<p>Like you, we wanted our daughter to graduate from college before trying to make it as an actress so that at least she would have that piece of paper should things not work out. Fortunately, she was happy enough at school that she never pressed to leave early, but I don't feel that it would have been the end of the world if she had. Easy for me to say now, I know!</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>We, too, had a great weekend in Oklahoma City. I had my son and a friend of his with me and both auditioned at OCU. We also went to Hansel and Gretel and enjoyed it very much. All of the students and faculty made sure that the kids felt welcomed and as relaxed as possible. It was their second audition, and I was happy that they had auditioned at ASU the weekend before. I think it took away some of the tension that goes with the first audition. They, too, are both having trouble thinking about other schools now that they have been to OCU.</p>

<p>There had been some questions about the original music needed at OCU. S took his two original books along with his notebook with copies in plastic sheets into the room for vocal auditions. He asked the accompanist which he would prefer, and he chose the copies in the notebook. But I would not have suggested going into the audition without the originals in hand.</p>

<p>As far as U of Arizona, both my son and friend are planning to audition there. We live in Tucson, and although both might prefer to go out of town, they will audition there. They know a few students in the program who are happy with the education they are receiving there.</p>

<p>Theatremom: I see that your D was accepted at Steinhardt and Michigan and she decided to go to Michigan. I would love to know some of the reasons behind that choice. My D auditioned at Steinhardt yesterday and my husband and I were "blown away" by the program and left with the feeling that going to Steinhardt would be the most direct way to musical theatre on Broadway which is our D's dream. Singing is her strength and the program seems perfect. However, she is still wanting a more typical college campus experience and is still keeping Mich as her first choice. Her audition at Mich. is Jan. 14th. Anyone else going for that day? It would be great to meet up there. I have been a very quiet participant at CC but have made many pages of copies of information for my H and D who have scanned the information. The audition at Steinhardt was over quickly and D felt that she had done well. Since it was Sunday, there weren't any classes to visit or students to talk to, except 1 sweet girl from Conn. who was using the rehearsal room after D finished. The student, a freshman, was very pleased with her experience so far at Steinhardt and mentioned how careful they are about "vocal health". D will audition at U. of Miami in Dec., Mich in Jan, Syracuse in Jan, and Elon and CCM in Feb. The stress is palpable in our home and we're looking forward to having a "college-free" Thanksgiving week. I am forbidden to even mention colleges this week! I so appreciate everyone's sharing on this site- it's been invaluable for our family and hope I can return some of the favor.</p>

<p>Chrisr,
I'm glad to hear that things went well at Oklahoma City.</p>

<p>Many readers may recall earlier discussion regarding OCU's policy against using photocopied music at their auditions. I think you handled it exactly right: bringing both the original music and photocopies inserted in page protectors inside a binder. I'm not surprised that the accompanist chose to use the photocopies. The music is simply easier to handle that way. However, I must agree that one should not go to an OCU audition without the originals. They explicitly state that they do not condone the use of photocopied music.</p>

<p>To recap one of my earlier posts, you are allowed by law to make a photocopy of music you have purchased for your own use. You may not share photocopies with all of your friends. Teachers are not allowed to give you photocopies of music they own to save you the expense of buying the music yourself. You are also not allowed to photocopy music from a library to save yourself the expense of purchasing it. I believe that you are allowed to make photocopies of music that is no longer in print without writing to the publisher for permission, though I could be wrong on that point. </p>

<p>I have worked as an adjudicator for many student music festivals. It is standard policy at such events to disqualify a student if he or she brings photocopied music into the judging room. Music organizations are trying to send a clear message to students that composers and publishers deserve to be compensated for their work. OCU is trying to send the same message. However, as Chrisr's experience demonstrates accompanists appreciate not having to wrestle with large, unwieldy music books. Demonstrating that you own the original music and have brought the photocopies for the pianist's convenience shows that you are both considerate and have a conscience.</p>

<p>As far as I know, no other schools mentioned on this forum have stated that their policy forbids photocopies in the audition room. If anyone knows of any other school with such a policy, I hope you'll post the information.</p>