Fall Cycle 2010 Audition Experiences

<p>My son auditioned at CIM yesterday (Monday, January 25). He stayed at the Glidden House which is as good as everyone has suggested. During the day he and my wife went back and forth between their hotel room and CIM. </p>

<p>The morning at CIM started with a general session for all parents and auditioners at 9 am that lasted for about 30 minutes. Each student was given a practice room for the 30 minutes prior to their audition. Practice rooms are in the basement and not overly large, but my wife says that they are very bright and not the dungeon-like chambers which some students from another conservatory had described. </p>

<p>My son had a morning audition, so he did the aural and theory testing in the afternoon. The written material which he was given at the registration desk in the morning suggested that the results of the aural and theory tests would be used for admission purposes (which was not a comforting thing for him to hear that morning after I had assured him prior to his trip that the tests were for placement). Current CIM students assured him that the exams really are just for placement and are not a big deal. As a perfectionist who had studied theory (harmony, analysis, rudiments etc.) quite extensively in the distant past and had forgotten much of what he knew about advanced harmony, he was wishing he had taken a bit of time to review prior to the test. In any case, the aural and theory exam was not terribly difficult. Some of his harmonizations were rather sketchy though!</p>

<p>Tours of the school and free lunch were provided to both students and parents. The audition slots were 15 minutes long and my son played more repertoire than he had expected. His audition was held in one of the teacher’s studios (a fairly large one) and his top three teacher choices were the three panelists. While waiting he overheard an excellent 3rd year CIM student recording the same concerto he was using for auditions. Later in the day my son happened to run into one of his audition panelists in a hallway who was encouraging and friendly. </p>

<p>He has a lesson today with one of his teacher choices. He has done a masterclass with one of the other choices and spoken to him privately. The third choice has not returned emails. We have found from more than one music school that the level of response or interest does not necessarily correlate with a teacher’s stature/popularity. Two of the most in-demand teachers have been very cordial, welcoming, and responsive which surprised us given how busy they are and how many students are attempting to get into their studios.</p>

<p>The day at CIM was a very positive one. Certainly as others have said, they were well organized. The weather on Sunday was quite nice for this time of year, but Monday was more Clevelandish (gray, cool, rainy).</p>

<p>Violindad,</p>

<p>Did you arrange the lesson in advance, or was this something you arranged on the spot? I’m wondering if we should do the same. My daughter had a lesson with her top choice, but it was over a year ago and her playing has changed, in a good way I hope, since. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Yes, the lesson was arranged about a week prior via email. The teacher did have some difficulty settling on a time because his schedule this semester with his regular students hadn’t stablized yet.</p>

<p>D auditioned at CIM on Sunday. I made reservations for our visit only the week before. (Glidden House was fully booked.) We ended up staying at the Marriott Downtown-Key Center. It was a fabulous place. I got a weekend package rate ($116) which included breakfast buffet and parking. This was significantly less than at any of the places closer to CIM. It was an easy 15 min. drive to CIM and also gave us a chance to see the downtown area. It was also nice to stay overnight after the very long day at CIM. Be sure to check TripAdvisor.com before you go anywhere.</p>

<p>DS auditioned at NU this week for the jazz program. He is really interested in a dual degree (BM/BA) program at a school with both a strong jazz and liberal arts program. Based on feedback that others provided on CC, he went equipped with lots of questions concerning the direction of the program. </p>

<p>He had a great audition (20 minutes scheduled, but 45 minutes actual) and, more importantly, had a great conversation with both Goines, the jazz program director and an admissions officer (maybe the Bienen School admissions director?). More than 40% of the undergrads at the conservatory are double majors and successfully finish as such. Double majors are assigned an advisor in both the music school and the college. All three (student and 2 advisors) meet at least 4 times a year to iron out course selection and schedule issues. Sounds like NU has good coordination for double majors. It also sounds as if Goines understands the frustrations students have had with a non-resident jazz faculty and is taking steps to address the problem.</p>

<p>Overall, my son went to the audition with mixed emotions and came away excited about the program. It’s a long way from being accepted (and longer from getting any financial aid to make attendance possible), but it was a great experience for him.</p>

<p>Cambridgemom, I’m glad he went prepared with questions and got them answered! Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks to all who responded, found this great rate on the website which ends up cheaper than the NEC rate of 159! Planning visit March 7-8 if anyone else is there then let me know and we maybe we can go to dinner or a museum together:)</p>

<p>S just came back from NEC audition. It was held in Pierce Hall which is in St Botolph Bdg. You go to admissions first and they give you a form to fill out to bring in to the audition. You get 20 mins in a warm up room and 10 mins with an accompanist and then you go down for the audition. When you are waiting in the hallway outside the audition room, you can hear the auditioning singers. They audition graduate students and undergrads at the same time, so if you hear someone who sounds really amazing, don’t panic. It could be a grad student. </p>

<p>The admissions staff and students were very nice and helpful. The process went smoothly and quickly. We were not able to go to the admissions talk because of the timing of our audition, but we did meet and speak with the dean of admissions. We did not take the tour because we have been to NEC several time before. </p>

<p>2 Audition tips we learned the hard way … bring a mini lint brush - S wore red scarf and fuzz from it got all over white collar of shirt. We luckily had tape and used it to get off fuzz. Also, for boys, make sure if you are wearing a shirt that does not have a button down collar that you do not forget the stays that keep the collar from flopping up. Or keep extras in your suit pocket just in case. Found out today you can buy extras at Men’s Wearhouse for $12for a whole bunch of 'em.</p>

<p>We stayed at the Colonnade which worked out well because it was so close. The restaurant was fast for breakfast. </p>

<p>Stay tuned for more audition gaffes… we still have 4 more auditions and will probably make every mistake in the book and forget every possible thing…</p>

<p>Tenormama, we also just got back from NEC. Definitely not the nicest facilities we have seen. D sang 2 songs through, 1st one was her choice, 2nd was theirs. Fairly formal committee in comparison to others. Info session was good, tour was weak, but if she gets in, we’ll definitely visit again. And like you and your S, we have 4 left.</p>

<p>Were all of the voice staff on the panel? Did they ask questions? We go to NEC on 2/26. Off to Eastman this week.</p>

<p>POTOmom, </p>

<p>5 people were on the panel, including Carole Haber. They did not ask any questions. They asked you to have three songs prepared but S only sang 2. First was his choice, second was theirs, as other poster said. </p>

<p>MusicMuse,
I agree that NEC’s facilities may not be as nice as some of the other schools we have seen, but the school has been undergoing renovations and has a plan to continue same. We visited the new recording studio behind Pierce Hall, which was still under construction. The studio had a 200 year old steinway and state of the art recording equipment. It is one of four studios planned for the renovation. </p>

<p>In the next four years, I understand that they are planning to build a 9 story building including a new opera house where the faculty parking is now located. Unfortunately, for our kids as undergrads, this will not be finished in time, if your D chooses another school, it’s a good thing to remember for grad school!</p>

<p>I have a son who is a sophomore at NEC. Just want to put in a plug for the Eliot hotel, a few blocks from school. Charming, wonderful and same price as the bigger more impersonal hotels. I feel like I’m in Paris when I stay there. And there’s valet parking which is great since I have a SUV that does not fit in the Colonnade’s garage, for example.</p>

<p>NEC might seem like it has shabby facilities but it’s a hotbed of talent and creative energy, make no mistake.</p>

<p>Thanks, tenormama and jazzzmomm. Will certainly have more questions once we know where D is accepted!</p>

<p>Just a heads up for those auditioning in Ann Arbor with an accompanist–my daughter’s accompanist last week was really terrible. The faculty had to stop him in the second song to get him to use the proper tempo. He was presumably a graduate student, and the head of their collaborative piano program is supposed to be outstanding, so I don’t really know what to make of it. It is making her rethink her first song for her Peabody audition, which, thanks to this site we have been forewarned, may have the same issue.</p>

<p>Thought this a good place to relink this <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/654765-analyzing-post-audition-events.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/654765-analyzing-post-audition-events.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Thanks, violadad. This was a timely and helpful thread.</p>

<p>S had WCC audition yesterday. There were about 100 people auditioning, but they handled the crowd very well. We were asked to be at the student center at 10:45. We got there at 9:45 to sign in. He was given an audition time of 11:30. About an hour before, he was taken to a rehearsal room to warm up. The rehearsal room was in a dormitory. He was allowed to stay there as long as he wanted to. There was no rehearsal time with accompanist before the audition.</p>

<p>The audition was in another building (next to the student center) in a small room which appeared to him to be a voice teacher’s studio. There were three judges. He had prepared four songs. He chose the first song and then they chose a second song for him to sing. After that, they asked him some questions about his musical background and about what opera singers he likes. They told him that they did not need to hear a third song. Most of his friends at the audition did sing a third song, though. The audition lasted 10-15 minutes. </p>

<p>S was the first auditioner, but he noticed that if you are not first, you wait outside the room while the people in your group are auditioning and you can hear the auditions of those before you, which can be unnerving.</p>

<p>After the audition, there was a theory test. S felt that the test was hard but not impossible. It involved listening and comparing melodies. </p>

<p>There were tours and talks by admissions officers. We had been there before so we did not participate in those, although we did find out that they will provide a written decision in about two weeks, which seems soon. </p>

<p>Four down, three to go… </p>

<p>Would appreciate any information anyone has on Peabody auditions since we are going there 2/15. Thanks.</p>

<p>Tenormama, is your son’s audition on the 15th? We’re going on the 15th in the evening but my daughter’s audition is the 16th. Maybe we’ll see you!</p>

<p>glassharmonica, We will probably miss each other, unfortunately! H has to get back to work next day, so we are leaving as soon as audition is done on 15th. Too bad… would have been fun to put a name to a face :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I think I remember that you said that you are staying at Peabody Inn. We couldn’t get in there, so are staying at Clarion a couple of blocks away. Do you know if there is anywhere decent to get dinner in the area? We are going to be in Baltimore on Valentines’ Day…</p>

<p>We will also be at Peabody on the 15th; not staying at the Peabody Inn. A friend recommended the Ikaros Greek restaurant very highly at 4805 Eastern Ave, but it’s about 4 miles away from our hotel.</p>