<p>I've been a member for a while but haven't posted much. My daughter and I got back from an audition weekend at a conservatory that has several more audition weekends upcoming. I'm wondering if it would be useful if I were to start a thread in which people could post details that could be be useful for those auditioning in upcoming months. For example, I could note what we discovered about hotel, local transportation, what we learned at the info session, etc. In our case, there are certainly things I would have liked to have known before we got there. If there is already a thread for this sort of reportage, please let me know.</p>
<p>This sounds really helpful to me. I have a lot of auditions coming up.
What conservatory was it?</p>
<p>I have read a thread with this type of info but I think it was from last year. Great info, though and I certainly used it when I was making the sample lesson trips. One of the “dads” will pitch in shortly with the thread name - they have phenomenal memories.</p>
<p>Those of us who have kids attending these schools now-and who travel regularly to them- would be glad to contribute also, so that we can help you out before you go!</p>
<p>Indiana U. This was my daughter’s first college audition, and unlike several other places she is auditioning, we had not traveled there before. The university sent out a packet, by postal mail and PDF, with advice about lodging, local transportation, etc. When I was in email contact with the office, before the packet arrived, they recommended that we stay in the Biddle Center (which also seems to be called Memorial Hall), which is on campus, so that’s what we did. It seemed like a good choice because a lot of other prospective students were staying there, which lent a collegial atmosphere to the visit. The office also recommended the airport shuttle, but when I checked the time table, it turned out that we would have to wait in the airport for almost 2 hours after landing before the next shuttle. For $4 more than the price of two round-trip shuttle tickets, we were able to rent a small car on site at the airport and drive directly to the hotel, about a 40 minute drive. (We brought a GPS from home.)</p>
<p>My daughter had a few friends who auditioned the day before she did, so we all went to dinner at Momma Bear’s a local pizza restaurant that everyone I know who went to IU raves about. it’s about a half mile walk from the hotel. </p>
<p>The auditions are staged from a large building called the MAC (Musical Arts Center), which is walking distance from the hotel, but a fairly long walk in cold weather carrying an instrument, so we took advantage of the rental car and drove, parking behind the building. We learned from talking to others that it’s important to arrive early because they tend to run ahead of schedule. For example, for the 9:30 theory test, students were gathered together at 9:14, and a few minutes later taken en masse to another building. The test itself was on scantron sheets, with #2 pencils, and my daughter said that the atmosphere was very serious, as though they were taking SATs. I guess many people want to place out of theory, or at least theory 1, so they have room in their schedule for more electives. The test took about 45 minutes, during which parents waited in the MAC, where there was coffee, pastry, and a cadre of enthusiastic young volunteers willing to answer questions. </p>
<p>My daughter had an 11:20 audition, so we went to a third building to find a warm-up room. It was a huge, circular building with seemingly hundreds of spacious, if slightly worn, practice rooms lining hallways in two concentric circles. Every room seemed to be occupied, but IU student volunteers were roving the hallways to help arriving students find rooms, so my daughter had about 40 minutes to change and warm up. We went to the next building, to her audition, about 15 minutes early, and good thing, because they were running ahead of schedule. The student before her played a 10 minute audition; there was a brief pause, and then she was called in. Her audition was also 10 minutes, and she was out the door 5 minutes before she’d been scheduled to begin. The girl after her (whom we met later at the airport) auditioned for only 5 minutes. </p>
<p>My daughter (and the boy before her) were dismayed to learn that the teachers they had listed on their applications were not in the room (there were about 7 other people on the panel and afterwards we looked them up on the IU website to confirm their identity). But the girl with the shorter audition did have her first choice teacher in the room. Our assumption is that because the panel was reviewing for absent colleagues, they felt a need to hear a longer audition. </p>
<p>At the info session, we were told that admissions are on a rolling basis (but then the admissions dean backpedaled and said that <em>some</em> majors would not hear until April, and that most would hear “fairly soon-- 4 to 6 weeks”, which brings us to early March for this round.) They also said that “every faculty member in a department would be present at the audition”, but that was obviously not the case for us. (The audition was not recorded.) I also asked whether the audition committee sees the student’s application (at some places, such as Juilliard, the application, and hence teacher choice, is <em>not</em> visible to the panel, but at other places, such as NEC and CIM, it is.) The dean said that the panel does not see the application, nor the student’s teacher choice. But the girl who auditioned after my daughter was followed out of the room by the teacher she requested, and among other things told to say hello to her home teacher, even though she had not met him before. So I think that there may be some transparency after all. </p>
<p>There was no mention of studio assignment so I asked that question. The answer was, “We expect the student to be proactive about that.” We were surprised because at the other programs my daughter has applied to, her audition date was arranged to accommodate the availability of the teachers she requested. When I asked for clarification he said that students were admitted without studio assignment and that many students arrive on campus in September without a teacher, hoping to sort it out during the first few weeks of school. </p>
<p>In my daughter’s case, the studio is the most important factor in her decision, so we are left with the task of contacting those teachers to find out if they have openings, if they will see her for a lesson (<em>if</em> we can schedule it). And if that happens, we will have to take another trip to Indiana.</p>
<p>glassharmonica, it’s a good idea and if it takes off, we can ask the mods to retitle the thread to identify it as the 2010 reports. There’s no past general audition reports threads.
It seems the bulk are asking a specific school/instrument/discipline audition question or an item requiring clarification. </p>
<p>The one warning is that things can and do change from year to year, so past experience/procedures should not be taken as what can or will happen the next.</p>
<p>Some of the audition topical threads with the most posts are linked below:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/675555-my-experience-canada.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/675555-my-experience-canada.html</a> (worrydads summary of Canadian schools)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/436815-audition-scheduled-iu-jacobs-school-music.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/436815-audition-scheduled-iu-jacobs-school-music.html?highlight=audition</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/471216-anyone-miss-audition-oberlin-due-weather.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/471216-anyone-miss-audition-oberlin-due-weather.html?highlight=audition</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/462152-nec-audition.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/462152-nec-audition.html?highlight=audition</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/451083-next-stop-audition-tour-miami-oh.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/451083-next-stop-audition-tour-miami-oh.html?highlight=audition</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/297285-oberlin-audition-info.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/297285-oberlin-audition-info.html?highlight=audition</a></p>
<p>And there’s the old standby here
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/240407-audition-tips-info.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/240407-audition-tips-info.html</a></p>
<p>and there might be info here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/558178-music-school-visits.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/558178-music-school-visits.html</a> as well (I think a few of the entries were combined visit/audition reflections).</p>
<p>And I figured I relink this one as the season approaches.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/654765-analyzing-post-audition-events.html?highlight=audition[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/654765-analyzing-post-audition-events.html?highlight=audition</a></p>
<p>POTOMom, it is largely memory on my part. I’ve been around for a few years now, and the forum has grown exponentially, and some of the best info is found in threads that have gone off tangentially from the title or original question/premise and they can nigh on impossible to find via a search.</p>
<p>“One of the ‘dads’ will pitch in shortly with the thread name - they have phenomenal memories.”</p>
<p>The “dad” with the good memory has already pitched in. I can’t be sure, but I don’t think mine is as good as it used to be. Or at least that’s what somebody or other seems to have have told me a while back. What was the question?</p>
<p>AHHH - The dads are everywhere and we LOVE them.</p>
<p>Oberlin - We went EA in Dec. Stayed at a B&B - Shurtleff House. It’s within walking distance if it’s snowing. We had heard that Oberlin Inn gets a little loud. Oberlin had a nice drop in on Friday at 4:30. All of the teachers were there and you could interact with them. It was good because my D had met most of the teachers on an earlier “lesson” visit so she could reconnect. They handed out the audition times when we checked in and my D was first in the morning. They also had nice entertainment planned with a singer and some instrument players. Very impressive. The next day we met the Admissions Director who gave a little speech and took questions. Had a financial planning session. Also had several students who did a forum and gave their impressions of Oberlin and took questions. Really a great insight. They met with anyone afterwards who wanted more details. Then there was a tour of the campus. Great guide. We didn’t get to go into any dorms, though and I was told we would. We ate at The Feve. We had eaten there before and loved it. There are two bookstores there - one has some older texts and my D loves that one. There is also a really vintage candy store you should check out. Besides that, there are lots of musical events going on and the art gallery to see. About the vocal audition: you are assigned an accompanist who meets with you for 10-15 minutes prior to your audition and you get to practice with them. There are plenty of rooms with pianos/mirrors for warm-up nearby. The accompanist takes you to the audition room, you have 8 minutes in the room. Only question they asked D if she played any instruments. There were three panelists. D said it was very hot in the auditorium - FYI. Other than that, all of the waiting singers were in the lobby. There were donuts, coffee, tea available. One member of the voice faculty wasn’t there and they taped the auditions for her to see. It’s less than 30 minutes to the Cleveland Airport so it was a pretty easy trip. You pass a nice mall on the way in case you happen to forget anything.</p>
<p>I thought I’d add a few words about IU here for those whose auditions are upcoming. My daughter is a freshman violin performance major at IU this year, and her audition was one year ago this month and it sounds like glassharmonica covered most of the bases. My daughter’s former teacher recommended a particular teacher at IU and we spent some time in the fall of her senior year trying to arrange a lesson. He’s a busy man. We finally went down sometime in November and she had a 20 minute lesson. We were a little upset, because we had driven 5 hours, and for 20 minutes? We thought it would be an hour. But he liked her, emailed her and her teacher, gave her specific audition dates when he would be hearing auditions and told her to ask for those dates. He also said he would give her a full hour lesson the day prior to her audition. The lesson went well, the audition went well, and her admission offer came within a few weeks, followed later by a decent scholarship offer. IU was not at the top of her list to begin with, but they gave her the largest scholarship and she liked the teacher and that’s where she decided to go. After one semester, she still likes him and overall she likes IU.</p>
<p>Chiming in with some other lodging and dining tips for Ohio schools- re the Oberlin Inn, they raise their rates substantially during audition weekends (up to $100 more/night!) and the place really isn’t worth it.It’s convenient and the dining room is OK, but like POTO Mom found, there are B&Bs in the vicinity, even up to 10 miles away, which are nicer and less expensive.
For those auditioning at CIM: The Glidden House is directly across from the conservatory and is the prime place to stay for convenience.It is a “boutique style” hotel with a few suites and interesting rooms, doubles and Kings. Breakfast is included, but get there early, and if a student is auditioning, it’s nice for them to grab some fruit, hard boiled eggs,etc for later. Ask, and they’ll give you some bottled water to take along. Parents, it’s safe and so close that it’s fine to let the kids walk over to the school alone. If you should encounter any problems or have any special requests, the manager, Tom, is very accomodating and will go out of his way to help. Parking is by permit and on-site and is free, which is a savings in any city. There is a really nice small coffee place, Arabica, just behind the parking lot, and they also have some really great light meals (the “grown-up” 3 cheese mac&cheese was so good, I came home and spent some time attempting to replicate it, which I finally did!). A Brazilian restaurant,Segio’s, is right next to the Glidden House- it’s expensive but isn’t a typical dining experience. A short walk through the parking lot to the rear is a French restaurant,L’Albatross, and the Silver Bullet Diner. The latter has incredible milk shakes, but to say the service is
s-l-o-w would be an understatement! Little Italy is a short drive, or within walking distance, up Ford Street, which becomes Mayfield Rd- many interesting small restaurants and one of the best bakeries, Presti’s (they also serve all three meals/day) anywhere. We always run up there and bring back some creme puffs and Cassatta Cake (white cake, stuffed with whipped cream and strawberries!!). Friday and Saturday nights will cost $5 for valet parking in Little Italy- it is THE place for nightlife in the area and gets very crowded.
No matter where you are traveling for school visits/auditions always make sure to ask for a special rate conncected to the school. There is almost always a good discount and often the schools include a list of which hotels in the area they suggest. Also, check with the hotel about their policy regarding practicing in the rooms. On one trip, I remember a kid on the horn down the hall, which ended early enough, but the mother yelling at her son, a cellist, to “Run through all of (his) pieces” at 2AM was extreme and impolite!
Like others here, I remember noticing connections between auditioning students and faculty members they had been referred to. The music world is small and often a student’s teacher will contact a colleague at the college and inform him/her that they are sending “Student A there and would they please listen to them…”,etc. I wish it was handled more discreetly, on the part of the faculty member, so that it wasn’t so obvious, because it is noticed by other students and parents, and it can be perceived as favoritism, even if that is not the intention.
Good luck to all of the students, and parents, enjoy these trips because eveything changes after this!</p>
<p>MezzoMama’s report on Glidden House was great! I’ll add a few more bits about CIM auditions (my daughter’s will on Feb 8th, but I have another daughter at CIA, the art school, and we’ve been for lessons several times at CIM, and have stayed at Glidden House many times. We have also stayed at two of the other area hotels, which I would not recommend.) </p>
<p>I don’t know about all majors, but string players are not given their audition time in advance. They are told to report en masse early in the morning, where audition times are then revealed. (They do the same thing at Curtis.) Last year, a lot of her friends auditioned and those staying at other nearby hotels had to camp out in the hallways of the CIM building waiting their audition. Anticipating this, I made our Glidden House reservation literally moments after reading the email confirming her audition date, which I think was back in December. There was also a lot of anxiety on the part of other parents last year, not knowing for sure when the audition would be, because they had scheduled plane flights. We’re planning to stay over the night of the audition to visit with my other daughter and all of their friends who attend both colleges, but even if not I’d consider taking on the expense of an extra hotel night to add the safety buffer of a room to crash in and practice in during a grueling audition day.</p>
<p>I’ve requested that the mods change the thread title to “Fall Cycle 2010 Audition Experiences”.</p>
<p>I know, the dates may be confusing, but it follows the pattern of the Master List threads.</p>
<p>These are the experiences for those who will be entering programs in Fall of '10.</p>
<p>violadad - just in case you ever wonder if all the old-thread-linking is worth it, please know that I’ve just spent a pleasant half hour or so reading through several of the old threads you pulled up on this one. Thank you!</p>
<p>Chiming in re: Oberlin lodging/restaurants. We were surprised at how run down the Oberlin Inn was, but we did “bond” with other jazz families during our time there. AND we have had some really wonderful lunches and dinners at the Black River cafe. The kids enjoy burritos at the Mexican place there too.</p>
<p>Thanks to the moderators for changing the thread title. </p>
<p>stradmom, the older threads contain so much, and if anyone is just starting out, experienced or clueless (and has the time) it is well worth going through the collective wisdom post by post.</p>
<p>glassharmonica, you are so right about trying to add on a night after the audition so as to lessen the stress. Buried on most of the schools’ web sites there will be something telling you how late you are expected to remain. I know that Eastman and Julliard are very late, some years until 11PM for the voice and piano majors at least, while CIM states 5PM and not to try to make a run for a 5:30PM plane at the airport! It can be difficult not to know the scheduled time of the audition in advance, but we found that the schools try to make things as comfortable as possible for those having to wait and to provide activities to fill the time. There are theory/keyboard tests, building/dorm or campus tours, departmental meetings,etc. Places such as The Glidden House fill up quickly- one pays for convenience and if it’s a lovely place, as that is, so much the better.
For anyone auditioning or planning a school visit to CIM(D attends) or to Eastman (we live about 5 miles away), feel free to send me an e-mail or a PM and I’ll help with local info that goes beyond the web site or packet information.</p>
<p>Are auditions open to public ?</p>
<p>None of my son’s auditions was open to anyone, except the adjudicators and him. </p>
<p>Aside from that, the audition experiences vary so widely, imo, as to not be able to generalize too much. Some schools had lots of things planned and were well organized. Some, not so much. Theory tests on-site were required at some schools but not at others. Some schools had welcoming food and places to sit; not so everywhere.</p>
<p>I have never heard of a college audition that was open to the public. Some schools work less diligently than others to hold auditions in an area where (ahem) casual passers-by who walk very slowly (ahem) might be able to hear just a little of what is going on behind the closed doors.</p>
<p>NO, auditions are not open to the public. They are conducted by appointment according to a schedule drawn up by the administration/department. They are brief and focused.= and are often held in small classrooms. To have others going in and out of an audition session would be distracting to all and not fair to the applicant.</p>