<p>Tenormama,
There are many restaurants in the vicinity of Peabody and if you are staying at the Clarion they can give you a list of local eateries. There is also a restaurant in the hotel if you are too exhausted to go out. Of course you can also go down to the Inner Harbor, the kids seem to enjoy that. It is a little too far to walk, especially in the winter, but you can drive if you have a car or take a taxi. We stayed at the Clarion several times last year and it is very convenient.
Enjoy your time there, audition days are very well run and it is a friendly atmosphere.
Good Luck to all.</p>
<p>DS is a future music education major, auditioning in classical sax. Today’s audition was supposed to be at Youngstown State University–they have a wonderful sax professor who comes highly regarded. We came in on Friday before the major snow storm that went through the region. This morning our car was buried in 18 inches of snow–significantly more than the 4 inches that was expected. YSU closed down for the day, but the professor was kind enough to invite us to his home so the trip wouldn’t be a total wash. Turned into a 15 minute formal audition, followed by an hour lesson. We’ll need to come back to see the campus, take a theory placement exam, etc, but it was a great opportunity for the two of them to get to know one another. If you’re looking for a smaller campus with an excellent sax teacher, YSU should be on your list. DS also auditioned at Ithaca College and Duquesne. Ohio State is next week. A very diverse mix of schools, all driven by the quality of the sax professor (full time in all cases) at the schools.</p>
<p>I have a few questions for those who already auditioned.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why no school asked me to provide scores of what I will be playing (actually NEC and Oberlin did not even ask what I will be playing). Should I bring a set of scores or do they have everything ?
Also do I need to wait during silences in orchestral excerpts ? Like if I have 7-8 seconds of nothing ?
Do people take a bow at the end of their audition ?</p>
<p>Those hearing your audition should not need to see a score (they will most likely be well acquainted with the music)…If you have someone accompanying you then that person would need a copy to play from… Usually in the form of good copies placed in a three ring notebook.</p>
<p>I’ll defer the rest of the questions to someone else as I don’t know what the procedure is for instrumentalist…although I doubt a bow is necessary</p>
<p>I had my violin audition for NYU today. Overall it was very quick, and the faculty was extremely nice. The practice rooms in steinhardt were clean and the piano was in tune- always a plus 
it seemed relatively well run, and everyone was on schedule. I played through the whole Bach adagio, half of the saint-saens concerto, and then they asked me questions.</p>
<p>The questions were simple (tell us a little bit about yourself, where else are you applying, why NYU, etc.) I offered them a copy of my resume and repertoire lists; they responded very positively to that. They inquired about my grades, and invited me back to an info session later that day. Unfortunately, I had a performance so I couldn’t go, but the strings chair gave me her card. Overall, I got a really positive, supportive vibe from the school. Hope I get accepted!</p>
<p>Eastman auditions. You go to convocation at 9, then music theory short test, then there was a 1 hour session to tell voice students what to expect if they came to Eastman. She had a group interview with admissions with two other students that lasted about .5 hour. You don’t get your packet with your daily schedule until after the music theory test. Turns out D’s audition was at 3:20 so we could have conceivably gone home tonight. However, several of her friends don’t have auditions until 7 tonight. I understand at the next audition date, they are going to run until 9 pm. Practice rooms were more sparse than at Oberlin and the piano was out of tune. You meet with your accompanist in the “green room” just prior to going onstage. You talk about tempo but you don’t get to sing. My D’s original accompanist got sick so she got a replacement that had never seen her two pieces. But D said he did well. D says drink plenty of water - it is very dry and the auditorium where auditions were held (Kilbourne Hall) was hot. We stayed at the Inn at Broadway and it is super. The restaurant here is good, too. We got in late last night (our plane broke) and they were very kind to fix us room service at a late hour. Going to try a new restaurant tonight, Henry B’s, which is Italian and has received good reviews. - WE didn’t go to Henry B’s - they were booked. So we went to TOurnedo’s in the hotel. Prices were reasonable and food was superb. Forgot to mention they also have continental breakfast included at hotel. Little egg, cheese and bacon quiches that were delicious.</p>
<p>Reply, thanks everyone for the dinner ideas! Greek food sounds fun… </p>
<p>Sop14’smom. Thanks for the suggestion of the harbor. We will stop down there to look around as well. Looking forward to seeing you there…</p>
<p>Confirming opera-mom’s response: You do not need scores for those who are listening because they know the literature for your instrument very, very well. Even if there were a work which they were not as familiar with, they can tell if you have musical and technical skills without knowing the work intimately. One doesn’t need a score to determine if the tone is beautiful, controlled, and consistent, nor to determine if the playing is in tune, nor to determine if the player has a sense of style and can make music. [Aside: I have heard that some panelists start forming their opinions during tuning: they can discern the player’s level of skill not so much by how accurately or quickly they tune, but rather by the tone, and on a string instrument, by the bow changes, and on a wind instrument by the articulation or tongueing at the beginnings of notes.] To again reiterate what opera-mom said, be certain to take a piano score along for your accompanist or even if there is no accompanist, it doesn’t hurt to have a copy.</p>
<p>At many auditions, the panelists will be busy reading things other than any score. Sometimes they are reading your application, resume, or repertoire list as they listen to you. I have heard of auditions at which they are reading other things. If that happens, it is not at all a reflection on the level of your playing and do not interpret it as a negative sign. Students routinely get admitted with large scholarships after auditions in which some or all of the panelists appeared to be bored, disinterested or asleep! The panelists often hear more than a hundred auditions (often every 12 minutes for 8 or more hours: do the math: that’s 40 per day), and some panelists just don’t communicate their interest or enthusiasm very transparently (i.e. they are loving your performance, but you can’t tell that from their face or body language). </p>
<p>As to the bow: a bow is a response to an audience’s applause or appreciation. I don’t think that the panel applauds at most auditions, so a bow would therefore be inappropriate. If the panel gives you a verbal thank you, then a slight nod of the head could be one appropriate way to respond, but not a deep full bow. However, if a panel did choose to applaud in a sustained manner, then it would be appropriate to bow. To bow without applause would be very gauche. [I do know of one instance where a judging panel was so taken by a performance that they gave a very very long standing ovation to a performance, but that was years ago and not in a college audition situation.]</p>
<p>As to rests in orchestral excerpts: Certainly short rests (one or two bars) should be observed and counted precisely. Long rests (12 or more bars) would not be precisely counted: just wait a very few seconds. For the intermediate length rests, ask your teacher. I suspect that given the time contraints, a panel would prefer you to move ahead: they have heard silence before in their lives! Certainly there is a judgment call here which depends partially on the tempo and nature of the music. I would not sweat this one; if you take more than about 5 seconds, the panel may just politely say, “You can move on to the next section.” I really don’t think that they will deduct anything or think any less of the audition. After all, playing an orchestral excerpt in isolation is a highly artificial situation for which there are no set rules. </p>
<p>All the best in your auditions. Your attention to these small details suggests that you have probably taken good care of all the “big details.”</p>
<p>Thanks you so much for your answers !! Also, concerning the scores for the pianist, there is nothing on the originial score, not even tempo, no nuances. I work on the full score, with the piano voice and I added a lot of things, and so did my pianist, who even added fingerings and little adjectives and musical intentions. Now the score is just full of indications.
Is it rude to send it like that to the pianist ? Should I erase everything ?</p>
<p>Bassplayer08: I would send the accompanist a score which is clean enough to read easily: too much writing can interfere with ease of reading. You may want to also send a second score which has lots on it with a brief note explaining why you sent two scores. Most audition pianists will probably prefer the clean score. I would certainly include any tempo indications (i.e. the metronome markings or tempo changes) on the clean score: these won’t interfere with ease of reading and are very important for the pianists to “get right.” If you have some dynamic markings which won’t interfere with the ease of reading, then also include those on the “cleaner” score. </p>
<p>Audition pianists are usually proficient enough that fingerings marked in the score are almost irrelevant to them: their brains unconsciously figure out fingerings from the note patterns. </p>
<p>I suspect that a work with few indications in the score is either: a) Baroque/early classical; or b) contemporary. If the work is Baroque or early classical, then the pianist will need little more than the notes (and tempo and broad dynamic markings). The pianist will have had plenty of experience with the nuances in these styles of music (unless you are doing something crazy in which case you may want to reconsider). On the other hand if the work is something 20th or 21st century, then the markings may be important. </p>
<p>I would photocopy (if legal) the score before erasing: you do want a record of all the markings.</p>
<p>Many audition pianists do not practice the works they must play at auditions because they simply don’t have the time and are not paid for the practice time. Usually they know the works very well or can sight read them very well. If they get a work which doesn’t fit into either the “known” or “sightreadable” category, they may give it some practice. In any case, if a pianist does “get in your way” during an audition, the panelists can hear this even better than you can and will make allowances. </p>
<p>Recently, someone posted that the panel told an accompanist to stop and perform at a correct tempo. All the panelists have at various times had to work with less than satisfactory accompaniment and recognize the frustration and will compensate for it. In any case, most audition accompanists are fantastic and probably much better than you may be accustomed to performing with. Most of the bass repertoire (both string bass and tuba) is either well-known or sightreadable.</p>
<p>In summary, to be safe you can send two versions of the score and allow the pianist to choose. You do have me curious: is the score that has nothing on it a pre-1800 work?</p>
<p>Well I have to say, this was my most interesting audition yet.
Left Thursday evening from Philadelphia for a Friday audition in Indiana University. Checked my suit bag on the plane and carried on my luggage, scores, and normal clothes on the plane with me. After about a 2 hour plane ride, I go to baggage claim to get my suit, and it doesn’t show up. I go to the U.S. Airways counter to ask them what happened and they say it was on the plane to St. Louis. After a few phone calls, I arranged to have them ship it to my friend’s house in Bloomington since I’m staying with him. U.S. Air said the earliest it would get there would be 11 a.m. even though I would be leaving at 9 a.m. to audition and take the theory test. As a result of the baggage madness, I miss the bus and have to wait another 2 hours for the last bus to Bloomington. When I do eventually get to Bloomington at 11:50 p.m., I walk with my friend to his apartment and we figure out what to do about my attire on the audition day. Eventually, I end up with socks, a belt, tie, and shirt from my friend’s roommate, shoes from another person who was auditioning this weekend and pants from one of my friend’s friends. Fortunately, it was all black so it didn’t look too bad. Eventually I fall asleep around 2 a.m. to wake up at 8 a.m…</p>
<p>The day of the audition I take the bus to the music campus with my friend’s roommate who showed me around the place. It was actually really nice apart from the practice rooms. I took the Basic Musicianship Test around 11, which was pretty easy. The audition was alright. The chair of the piano department was there. I felt like I could have done better since I had the jitters during the audition. After the audition, I went to see my friend’s roommate’s recital which was really really good. We ended up having dinner at a place called Little Tibet on 4th Street which was amazing. After the recital, I found out that my flight on Saturday had been cancelled, so my friend and I went back to his apartment to hang out after I rescheduled my flight for Sunday.</p>
<p>Saturday was uneventful. I did homework during the day. I heard from U.S. Air that my bag was at Indianapolis and that they weren’t going to send anyone out to send it because of the weather so I told them to ship it back to Philadelphia with my rescheduled flight. My friend and I had dinner at Siam House which was nice. Very friendly restaurant. I passed up the opera to practice.</p>
<p>Sunday I got on a flight home and still never got my suit bag back. Hopefully it gets here before my next (and final 
) audition.</p>
<p>Crazypianist, you are lucky you arrived and were able to depart Indianapolis! The blizzard on Friday night was unbelievable… Son and I went of CCM in Cincinnati, arrived OK but very late due to his HS jazz concert Thursday night. Friday we had the Cincinnatus Scholarship Competition which is a way to evaluate students, and propaganda for parents. We got a tour of the conservatory after box lunch and honors session. We sat in on the Composition Seminar, where music was presented by one of the professors and students commented afterward. Then son met with Joel Hoffman. Interview was about 45 minutes, only two spots this year open (probably for undergrad and grad) as no one is graduating. Not sure how many are applying. Told he would hear back in March. They waved the theory test as he was auditioned on a special day, not sure, but the auditions next day may have been cancelled due to weather. They were telling folks that if it was cancelled they could send a CD for auditions or re-schedule. The conservatory was very impressive, all very new, built in late 1990’s so facilities are great. The Musical Theater program is big, they do lots of productions and the set production area was absolutely amazing to see. They just became an all Steinway school, bought a ton of new pianos. We drove home Friday and the 5.5 hour drive took 10 hours. We passed 19 cars and jacknifed semis along with a 6 car pile up accidents. Would have stopped and got off road, but had to work next day. Must have slept 6-7 hours between two nights.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. Yes, it’s Bach…</p>
<p>crazypianist, what a wild story. It sounds like you kept your cool in a very challenging circumstance. If you could do that, the audition itself must have been a breeze!</p>
<p>Eastman auditions. This is probably obvious, but where is the 9:00 convocation? Son’s email just says the time but not where.</p>
<p>Jazzkat, When you arrive, go in the main entrance to the Eastman School building and there will be a desk to sign in. They will give you all the necessary info and direct you. Last year it was in the Eastman Theater.</p>
<p>Jazzkat, it will probably be in what’s now called Kodak Hall and was Eastman Theater last year.</p>
<p>My S and I traveled to Ann Arbor this last weekend to audition for the voice program in the School of Music at Michigan. We flew to Detroit, rented a cheap car from Thrifty and drove to a private residence where we stayed for two nights. This was our first visit to Ann Arbor and the university. We were impressed with both the community and the campus. Parking near the School of Music was easy, but cost $5. Our experience with the Music School was great. Both the faculty and staff were very friendly and supportive. In the morning we attended an info session describing the timeline for decisions, etc. At a later info session for voice students the faculty member started out by reassuring the auditioners that the faculty were “not looking for reasons to screen you out, so please relax, have fun and show them your musical talents”. Ten minutes later, however, she provided the following sobering statistics. They had a little over 300 voice applicants, of which approximately 60% were for the undergraduate program. In response to a question, we were told that they were looking to admit about 16-18 undergraduate voice students. Doing the math, this equates to an overall selection ratio of about 9-10% for undergrad voice applicants.</p>
<p>Prior to my son’s 2 PM audition, there were plenty of practice rooms available. In addition, they provided some nice finger food in the form of bagels, cream cheese and, over the noon hour, some very tasty meat and veggie wraps. The audition itself went fine and, unlike a previous poster, my son had no problems with the accompanist. The faculty asked a few questions about his background afterward (including other instruments he played, etc.) and about his career aspirations. I believe my son said there was also a brief “ear” test afterward (pianist played some notes and he had to sing them – forgive me, I’m not a musician and I’m kind of winging it here … ). </p>
<p>We dined at Chiplote and the Palm Palace, a place featuring middle eastern fare. I can recommend the Palm Palace — especially the “value” menu – a whole lotta good food for about $9. </p>
<p>We were told we would hear from them in 2-3 weeks. So, now we are back to waiting…</p>
<p>Convocation was in Kilbourne Hall. Go in the main door to the School, which is on Gibbs Street across from admissions, and you will see everybody waiting in the lobby. They had “helpers” with green baseball shirts on. Had their names and their major on the back. While you are waiting to go in, it’s a good time to look for someone who has your major and ask any questions you’d like to ask. Also, if you go to the admissions office afterwards, they will give you an excused absence sheet on letterhead. They are doing a lot of construction making improvements to the Kodak Theatre so perhaps that is the reason they didn’t use that facility for us. Don’t know.</p>
<p>ESM convocation depends upon the size of the group at that day’s auditions. If there are a lot of grad and transfer students, they will use the Eastman Theatre (sorry, I am not going to call it anything else, I don’t care who kicked in the $$ this time around!). Kilbourne is not big enough to handle a larger group and the traffic pattern is tough. It’s a matter of following the crowd- it will be clear when you’re on Gibbs St which door the people are going in, so it’s a follow-the-leader event. It’s not that big and the buildings are right next door, so getting lost isn’t an issue. Good luck to all!</p>