Kid has only done one ‘official’ sample lesson (last week in fact!), but at least two of his auditions were like sample lessons (they were ~40 minutes long).
I wish he had thought to ask for them when we toured last year, but I hadn’t discovered this wealth of information from you all. One school he did a summer institute and got to know the professors then - so all in all, only two of his list of 6 he hasn’t really gotten to know the professors. The plan is if he gets into one of the two, he will fly out and do a lesson then. The other one he really didn’t like the school, so we can cross it off the list.
I would say it is up to the professor if they want the parent in to observe the lesson. IMHO even if asked I would decline. It really is time for the professor and the student to get to know one another and at some point we need to let go as parents right? We can help with the money aspect of this process but ultimately this decision is theirs to make (within financial reason of course) and I don’t want to influence the teacher-student relationship since I won’t be involved in it.
My S had lessons with all of the professors he auditioned for prior to the audition and I would HIGHLY recommend doing so if you can especially the schools your child really cares about. My son said getting to know the professor and playing for them prior to the audition made the audition itself so much less stressful. Most were offered free of charge though a couple were not. My S really liked all of the professors and was reassured that he had made good choices in which schools to apply to knowing wherever he ended up he would have a great teacher to learn from.
I don’t think it’s appropriate for the parents of a student applying to conservatory to attend lessons. Even if the professor invites you inside you should politely decline–the point is for the professor and the student to see each other in the context they will be working in if student becomes part of the studio. An exception would be a very young student applying to college, although that situation rarely happens now that there are excellent precollege programs where even the most advanced “prodigies” flourish.
My S had lessons with the professor at three of his six possible schools before he applied. Perhaps not coincidentally, those are now his top three choices. Of the other places he applied, one professor was an adjunct and not responsive so we were unable to set up the lesson in spite of multiple attempts (had we known this before he applied, he might not have gone forward); one spoke with him on the phone but we weren’t able to get up to campus; and one local school offered the lesson after S’s audition (S will be going to this in a couple of weeks and will see how he feels afterwards). So, while it wasn’t always easy to do the lessons, especially if the schools weren’t local, it definitely paid off.
I didn’t attend any of the lessons, although I met the teachers and remained nearby in case I was needed.