Feeling bad prescreens didn't work out- advice?

College Majors Music Major
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<p>My daughter just heard back from CWR & Blair (Vandy) that she will not be invited to audition based on her prescreening videos. I feel so bad for her, although I do believe things will work out somewhere else. </p>

<p>She is very talented, but has not had access to recitals/competitions things of that sort (we homeschool, in a very rural area), and I think that hurt her. Her prescreening videos were great, so I don't think it was her actual performance. She wants to major in music composition. She has college-level music theory knowledge. </p>

<p>There are 3 in-person auditions she still has to do, and her confidence is shaken. What to say? I don't know what else we could have done to improve her chances. Academically she is a fit at both. I just needed to vent - thanks for reading.</p>

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<p>I understand your frustration. Try not to let your D see your lack of confidence. She needs to be at her best for her auditions and that includes believing in herself. If she wanted to be a composition major, why did she audition on an instrument for Blair. Composition majors need only submit a portfolio for interview consideration. Good luck to you and your daughter on her coming auditions.</p>

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<p>Video auditions are often difficult for performers because, by nature, performers gain energy from an audience. An audition panel is an audience-so that helps! Meanwhile, make sure she has a good plan B in place, just in case. But don’t panic- college is never an emergency (as you know, from being a homeschooler and not feeling a need to be in a bricks-and-mortar setting.) If she is not happy with her choices in April, she can decide to take a gap year to strengthen her audition for next cycle.</p>

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<p>I completely understand. When I didn’t pass USC or Rice I felt like the worst pianist in the world and was sure that I didn’t stand a chance at my other schools. </p>

<p>But in the end I remembered that not passing was not the end of the world. On a plus side, it saved me valuable travel $$ and time preparing when I knew it wasn’t a “fit.” I became happier with the auditions that I knew I did have and had a firmer resolve to work harder at those since my options were narrowed down. </p>

<p>BTW I live in a tiny rural town and have not had access to recitals/competitions either so I completely understand but I don’t think that lack of experience hurt your daughter. I am good friends with the head of the piano department at a very competitive conservatory and I voiced the same concerns to her when I started the audition process. She told me that huge resumes/fancy recommendation letters etc… don’t matter as much as your playing. The faculty recognize some people don’t have the opportunities (either for financial or geographic or both reasons) for recitals/competitions so what matters most is do you (from the tape) have the potential + skills needed to succeed when granted those opportunities from college? </p>

<p>Continue to be confident and encouraging. If your D is super passionate about music and knows that is what she wants to do, she’ll get over it and continue strongly.</p>

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<p>Sorry to hear about your daughter’s prescreening results. Definitely read the thread ‘Rejection Hurts’ (it is on page 3 of the music major threads). There are excellent posts on here by very knowledgeable parents who explain the complex nature of prescreening decisions. Best of luck with your daughter’s 3 auditions. These are where she needs to focus her energy now.</p>

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<p>Sorry to hear the bad news. Please tell your D that she and her performance level haven’t changed before and after the pre-screen result so be confident at the 3 auditions and most important, be herself. Please also tell her that performing art is subjective, so even if the professors at Vandy didn’t feel for her style, interpretation, etc., there will be other opinions.</p>

<p>My S performs and competes regularly. I have the ultimate respect of the young musicians because basically they put their months/years of hard work on stage, only to look for criticism. It’s not easy, really. I won’t even have the guts to walk on that stage… So please praise your D for her talent and hard work.</p>

<p>About video recordings - besides the performance, we heard the recording quality is very important. Not sure if this may be a factor Unfortunately professional recordings are very expensive and a good studio is hard to find, even in the metro area we live in. </p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

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<p>One of the toughest things about being an isolated artist…you don’t see that everyone is struggling and dealing with some sort of rejection. No one gets into everything, for the simple reason that not every program is the right program for your student. Even here on the music forum, people tend to post the wins and not the losses. Anything you could do to help her network with other young musicians or music professionals who can commiserate honestly? Is there any way that you could organize a local recital with her friends/family/community to give her a boost of confidence? Just a few ideas. It is something that she needs to work on. No matter how good she is…she will eventually need to deal with the rejection that is part of EVERY artists life.</p>

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<p>I think one of the things you need to tell her is you don’t know the background of what they are looking for, that her playing may have been good enough, but she was the victim of circumstances. One year at Juilliard the admissions people were giving the numbers for flutes being admitted the next year, and the number was, 1…and that was between grad school and undergrad! If your D was a flautist, and gave a prescreen that year, they probably auditioned a handful of kids, and rejected everyone else…</p>

<p>My S got upset that he didn’t get into the second round of auditions at one of the places he auditioned at, while a couple of kids he knew made it into the round, he thought he played really well, but got cut in the first cut. Turned out the two kids were studying privately with teachers at the school (paying $$$$$), so it wasn’t exactly an even comparison (and he got into every other school he applied to…)… There is just so much vaguery and noise built into the process you can’t take too much out of the results, or assume anything. The same school that rejected my son in the first round rejected a good friend of his in the same studio, that kid the same year he auditioned took one of the most prestigious competitions in the world a couple of months after he was rejected…</p>

<p>Tell her this is what music is like, and everyone experiences it, and I know it isn’t easy. After my S’s audition that he got rejected, he was really upset, angry, meanwhile he had had one of the top teachers around be very encouraging about working with him at another school, but he couldn’t see that (it is one of the times I came close to wanting to really slap hi, but I didn’t…:)…it is part of this crazy world, and tell her it is that hard for the very best students:).</p>

<p>Going forward, a couple of pieces of advice:</p>

<p>1)If it doesn’t work out as she wants this year, a lot of music students do gap years, to work on skills and technique, it might be worth it for her to try that.</p>

<p>2)I know you are rural, that it is hard to get to places, but I would highly recommend trying to find someone to evaluate your D outside her current teacher. I would recommend finding a teacher who has a good reputation, and ask him/her for an evaluation. One of the hardest parts about what your D faces is it is very, very hard to benchmark anything, with academics, it is relatively easy, but with performance, it is extremely difficult, and a rejection on a pre screen isn’t an evaluation that means all that much. Yes, it could be that the teacher tells her that her playing is not going to cut it, but they also can give concrete evaluations, where you are strong, where you are weak, and that makes a big difference, it is concrete:).</p>

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<p>I also wonder why she is applying only to schools that require auditioning on an instrument if she wants to compose. Is she applying for composition at any conservatories or colleges that don’t require an instrumental audition for composers? is she going for a BM or has she also applied to BA programs?</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the encouragement. She has, I think, one place that doesn’t require an instrumental audition for comp majors. All of the others require even the comp majors to audition - I don’t know why. The Blair prescreen was based on her compositions with recordings of them- I should have been clearer on that.</p>

<p>She has an audition at Belmont coming up & she also has to bring her compositions. Hopefully that goes well, but we’re trying to just roll with the punches.</p>

<p>Thanks all!</p>

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<p>turtlefence, did I somehow miss what your daughter auditioned on? Piano?
We also homeschool and we live so far away from civilization, we have to use pack mules to go to the grocery, so I completely understand. There are no teachers within 2 hours of us, no community college, no anything.
Video submissions are difficult – I saw many of them on youtube and was, um, a little less than impressed. I am both blessed and cursed by the fact that S also wants to do recording, so naturally his videos were “events”… That being said, he does much better with a live audition. There’s something about the energy of the space that gets him motivated.
Above all she should not be discouraged and neither should you. S didn’t make it through his composition submission at Cincinnati and that was the one place we thought he’d excel. Yet, he passed through all the way at Denver and he thought he’d be out of his league there. Same with Berklee — he had no problem there and it was his first in-person audition anywhere.
In the end he took a gap year. I think as homeschoolers, this was very easy for us to embrace. In that year, we had planned for him to audition at some local places to get familiar with the process, but he didn’t like that idea. So we’re jumping in again. I am betting your daughter will do great at her in-person auditions. But just know whatever way the wind blows she has time to see her dream through to fruition.
What I would tell her is to relax. No pressure. If she is like the homeschoolers I know, she will be much more connected to a real person in an audition than she might have been on a tape/cd thingy.</p>

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<p>Turtlefence - I looked on some of your other threads and it seems your daughter originally was going to minor in music and you called her strength her singing & songwriting. You also asked for advice about how to print a score. Vanderbilt is one of the top classical composition programs which attracts very accomplished students, many with extensive previous experience in classical composition - she may not have properly evaluated the program for her needs. Belmont sounds like it may be a much better fit for her, unless I’m misunderstanding her interests and goals. Has she studied classical composition? When you wrote of her lyrics and songs - were you referring to Art Songs? Or more popular music?</p>

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<p>Perhaps think about sending out 2 or 3 more applications -Ithaca College -has excellent music (yes competitive) but their deadline is Feb 1st I think. Also consider Gettysburg College Conservatory - we met someone whose daughter attended and loved it Also less competitive would be Shenandoah University and Susquehanna (the music building was ‘hopping’ at noon the day we visited and everyone was friendly). I think applying to a school like Susquehanna might be a great idea to balance the ‘pressure’ of her auditions.</p>

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<p>There are lots of competitions she could enter her compositions in, no matter where you live or where she goes to school. If she is interested, there are people here who can give suggestions.</p>

<p>What genre are her compositions? Spirit Manager may be right in saying there is a mismatch between genre and school, which would not mean anything at all about her talent. Hopefully, that would make her feel better. Has she listened to the works of composition professors or students at any of the schools where she is applying? (And, again, a college might work out better than a conservatory, as it does for many composers OR songwriters.)</p>

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<p>One alternative to a ‘Gap’ year is to look into the best school for music close to you and enroll as an undecided major but arrange to take lessons in the mean time. Even a community college can work on some of the basic concepts that will make her application more attractive. Use the year to take a couple of basic classes and some lessons - even if they are through the community program instead of for credit.</p>

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<p>So what program is she applying for at Belmont? Here is info from their site:</p>

<p>"Church Music Major | Commercial Music Major | Music Performance (Classical) Major | Music Theory | Piano Pedagogy Major | Music Composition Major | Musical Theatre | Music Education Major | Undergraduate Music Home | B.A. with Music Major | Music with Outside Minor | Minor in Music | Music Therapy Major</p>

<p>Belmont’s School of Music provides a unique learning environment, with teaching excellence in both classical and commercial music genres. Whether your interest is pop, jazz, church music or chamber music, our top-notch faculty will provide you with personal instruction, grounded in a firm understanding of what it means to be a working musician."</p>

<p>Here is a great essay about different ways to study music (BA, BM, double degree, minor, double major, extracurricular):
[Double</a> Degrees | Peabody Conservatory](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html]Double”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html)</p>

<p>Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt does NOT require an instrumental audition for composition applicants. You clarified that but just to repeat. It looks like their composition department is classical (often the term “composition” refers to classical, but not always) but their musicianship program takes into account all genres in the contemporary mix (“jazz, popular and world music”). Here is text from their site:</p>

<p>Was your daughter clear on whether or not the portfolio should be classical? I checked the faculty and they write for orchestra, string quartet, and other classical concert ensembles.</p>

<p>Generally, composition applicants have to go to a summer program, a conservatory prep, or hire musicians to get their pieces played by quality musicians. A composition teacher can sometimes make that happen too. Composition can be taught at a distance, believe it or not. Did your daughter submit Finale scores and audio or were her pieces played by musicians?</p>

<p>I am concerned that your daughter is now unnecessarily discouraged because she applied to classical programs but is not a classical composer. Is that right? Belmont could be a better fit, depending on what program she applied to. She may be very talented but if she doesn’t write classical music, she will get turned down by classical programs, at least, for the most part. This could be disheartening and discourage her from music, which would be a shame.</p>

<p>If she does want to write classical works, she could take a gap year, take lessons, do some programs, apply to some competitions, take more theory, get to know the works of many composers (including modern and contemporary), and write several pieces and get them played. That is usually what it takes to get into a program like Blair, or Ithaca for that matter. (Ithaca notes that instrumental auditions are optional for composers and although they want a portfolio that is presumably classical, once there, the school offers “the opportunity to explore jazz, electronic music, film scoring, and other media.”)</p>

<p>I hope she is happy with whatever happens and that she is not discouraged by classical program expectations if she is talented in contemporary, folk, jazz, or more popular, music. I really hope Belmont works for her.
Good luck!</p>

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<p>Wow, I should have gotten on here a lot more! Thank you all for taking the time to post.</p>

<p>Part of the confusion is that I have TWO daughters, one of whom is the singer/songwriter, 16 ( although she has now decided against majoring in music) and the other who is my piano player/composer, 17. They are both graduating from our homeschool this year. </p>

<p>I do think that Blair was a mismatch. She(the 17 yr old) likes Vanderbilt in general & was attracted to Blair bc of that (plus her sister is applying there). She is really interested in eventually creating scores for film and video games, as well as her own piano music. The music composition major seems to have a different focus everywhere she has looked, and it’s been very difficult for her to figure out what places might be a fit both musically AND financially. </p>

<p>She is really not too down about the rejections. She only decided on this twist in her path (to major in music) in August, and although her teacher (of music theory/vocal/band) for the last 3 years (who graduated from Berklee himself) was confident she’d excel at a place like Berklee or Belmont, she hasn’t had much opportunity to get input from him on all of this. He had to get a non-music day job & has been working like crazy trying to pay off his enormous student debt. Her piano teacher is excellent but not traditional - he didn’t even attend college. He owns his own recording studio & she and her sisters are recording an album of original music there. </p>

<p>She knows as much music theory now as the Berklee grad - at least that’s what he told us. She has performed solo & with a band at both large & small venues, so the prospect of auditioning doesn’t really worry her.</p>

<p>We talked about all of this the other night, including a lot of what you all shared on this forum. She is excited to do the audition at Belmont ( she’s already admitted to the school), and if it all works out I do think that would be a good fit for her. Compmom, she is auditioning as a music composition major. She wasn’t sure whether to apply as a Commercial music major or a composition major, and couldn’t get anyone from Belmont to reply to her questions, unfortunately. On her audition confirmation they have her down as a Commercial music major. More confusion, sigh. She has to call them this week & see why - maybe that’s their reply to her question about which program would be the better fit?</p>

<p>If not, we have a State U. where she thinks she can at least start off. She’s already in there too, although they seem to be more classically oriented. She’s also open to the gap year - she told me she’d love to just find a mentor that’s already working in the field & work with him/her for a year. I don’t know if that is realistic, but I’m glad she’s being so flexible & positive. </p>

<p>Thanks for everything! I’ll probably post again after our trip to Belmont.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the clarification. I think the Commercial Music Major at Belmont is the appropriate program for her interests after looking at their description of their ‘composition’ major" which is focused on becoming a classical composer and/or a future as an academic. “The Music Composition major builds on a strong foundation of music theory and gives extensive training in the creation of music in a wide variety of classical styles. This classical major is designed for students who wish to pursue graduate study in composition with the ultimate aim of university teaching and/or professional classical composition.”</p>

<p>Speaking of Berklee- did she apply there? Like Belmont, that could be a great fit for her.</p>

<p>Many prospective composition students we’ve seen on CC are confused as to what track to follow if they wish to score movies or video games. We always recommend they get a good grounding in traditional compositional techniques - but we also worry that they’ll be unhappy in the solely classically focused programs. It sounds like your daughter would do wonderfully in a liberal arts setting, pursuing a BA in music which would let her follow her own path as she sees fit, as well as give her exposure to the traditional musical building blocks for composition. Has this particular daughter applied to any schools for a BA? I feel the BA programs might provide the most flexibility for a young composer to explore and expand during their undergrad years - especially if they’re entering with only rudimentary experience.</p>

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<p>Your post really helps fill out the outlines. I just want to say congratulations on having such cool daughters!</p>

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<p>After I was rejected based on prescreen from my first choice, I was pretty upset about it. I’m still a tiny bit upset, only because a friend of mine is going to the school and I have to see it every day. But, after I visited that school and made my windup about it, I had goggles on that kept me from seeing how awesome other schools were. I keep calling them “Oberlin Goggles”! I’m sure your daughter is meant to be somewhere awesome, and when she sees the three schools she is auditioning at, she’ll probably have some idea of what she really wants.
On the confidence side, I’ve had the exact same issue. We have to remember that this is such a subjective field and that we may never know why someone did not like our work. This is not to say that your daughter isn’t great. I’m so sure that she’s amazing and will find exactly what she needs and wants!
BTW, I had my first audition and it went really well, which boosted my confidence back up from where it had been after that rejection.
Hope I helped!</p>