<p>Hello! I am a soprano auditioning for the Undergraduate Applied Music (Performance) program at Eastman this Friday. I'm excited/nervous as Eastman is my dream school and I didn't expect to make it past pre-screening. While this is not my first college audition this year (my third), it's my first where I will have to conduct a live interview (and several, at that). I'm curious as to what type of questions the interviewer will be asking. Will they be similar to what would be asked in an interview for non-music majors? If not, what will be different/additional? </p>
<p>Also, just out of curiosity, does anyone know what percentage of voice applicants who receive a live audition are actually admitted?</p>
<p>belcantosoprano,
I can’t speak for the voice department but my son and his friend really enjoyed his audition at Eastman last year for Jazz Performance. They thought that everyone was super friendly and also very supportive and nice. I did not go to this audition with my son, but the father of my son’s friend did and he came back totally JAZZED (no pun intended) about Eastman as a school and wanted his son to go there. I would just be yourself and also make it clear that Eastman is indeed your first choice. I know with Jazz, Eastman looses a lot of top musicians who audition but then decide they would rather be where the scene is in a major city like Boston or NY. So I imagine if a student made it clear that Eastman was their top choice that would give them a leg up.</p>
<p>Belcantosoprano, my daughter auditioned last year for Eastman. It was a very very long day. </p>
<p>When you arrive you will get a schedule for the day just for you. They have lots of students milling around in special T shirts to answer any question, chat with you. They had drinks and snacks available too and that was really nice. Students were really friendly.</p>
<p>They started the day with a meeting in the beautiful theater there with ALL the different majors. Then the kids went to take theory tests and the parents stayed for the business talk info - money etc. Later they had a faculty meeting which I found very disappointing, about 1/2 of the faculty was not there, did not show. They even left their seats empty. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for my daughter, after that, she had to wait until 4:45p for her audition. Some people have waited even longer. We did have to wait for a practice room for her to warm up, and finding one was a bit of a fight, but we did get one eventually. By the time her audition time came, she was really just ready to get it over with. Out of the 8 auditions she had last year for college, the one place where her accompanist was a problem was Eastman. He was just off doing his own thing, not following her. Be prepared for that, you never know where that might happen and it can be very disconcerting. </p>
<p>The school itself is old and beautiful, you can just feel the music in it. Rochester is another story. Hopefully, some big company will come in and revitalize it, but it is run down and sad. Overall, we left there knowing that Eastman was not the place for my daughter. On the flip side, she had several friends audition there who just loved it and knew it was the place for them. Once again, it all just depends on the person.</p>
<p>Do be prepared for as potentially very long day. D’s bass audition isn’t for two weeks, but the email she got said that vocal and piano students needed to expect to be there very late. I hope you have a hotel.</p>
<p>D has a few friends who go there, and yes, practice rooms are at a premium, so expect that you may have to wait. Of course you could just hop over to Java and have some tea and rest if the wait gets too long :)</p>
<p>I disagree about Rochester being run down and sad. It is a great city with a wonderful night life and lots of music opportunities. Of course, I am from Syracuse, so maybe knowing the area better makes me look at it differently. The school itself is on the edge of not the best neighborhood in one direction and yes, Xerox is gone and Kodak is a shadow of what it used to be, but it is still a great city!</p>
<p>It’s good to know that it’ll be a long day. We were expecting it. It’s my son’s 1st choice and he absolutely loves the place. He’s spent a bit of time there the last couple years and has a couple of friends there. Very excited about audition day. </p>
<p>Alexmariejp I didn’t realize you were from Syracuse. I’m from the Rome area and I also feel the same about Rochester. It’s really not that bad. I like it.</p>
<p>About the interview- My D auditioned there last year as an instrumentalist. The interviews were actually group interviews. Students sat around a table and all took turns answering each question. I don’t remember the exact questions, but I think they were mostly of the “get to know you” variety. And yes, it is a long day.</p>