<p>I play violin and am anticipating college auditions next fall and spring. But I am afraid that of the competitiveness that may be present at places like Hartt School of Music and Mannes the New School for Music. I am petitioning a plea of help to all seniors or college music majors: can you shed some light on the process? (What it took to get to an audition, how the audition process works and feels, etc..and anything else you deem helpful to skeptical musicians like myself).</p>
<p>Hi, it looks like this is your first post so I assume you are new to this forum. First, there is a ton of information already in the Music Major section of College Confidential. I am a parent, but used this information to help guide my daughter, who is now studying music full time as a vocalist. Use the Search feature to find posts that are close to your question and you’ll see tons of similar questions with great responses. Several parents and students that post regularly are also violinist or familiar w/ the process for string auditions. Step one is to be informed, which you are doing, and step 2 is to make sure you are getting in-person advice from a very good private instructor who should be able to direct you to school and audition pieces that best showcase your strengths.</p>
<p>You might start by reading the first twelve or so postings at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html</a></p>
<p>It talks about a bass player, and the bass world can be very different from the violin world, but it has a lot of information that may be useful to you. Hopefully some of the violin regulars will chime in with more specific advice.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll leave the thread open still to any who have input not found in other threads. I’ll go search :)</p>
<p>Polish, I found the postings on this site to be absolutely invaluable. I highly recommend that over the next 6 months or so that your read every post on music school experiance and auditions on this site. You will likely find every answer to every question that you could possibly have.</p>
<p>You are soooo smart to be looking this stuff up now. Many of my son’s peers didn’t bother to find out what they needed to do for acceptance into a music program. I spoke with one mother who (after it was to late to schedule auditions at some schools) told me that she had no idea that a music student had to go through “all of this” and her options became very limited.</p>
<p>I felt compelled to do my son’s research for him as he just didn’t quite “get it” that this is a big deal. Picking a college and going through the process of being accepted is indeed a big deal.</p>
<p>My son didn’t audition at a school that is as high a level as most of the people on CC, but he basically pretended like he was doing one of those types of auditions, and I suspect that going into the auditions with the attitude that they are a big deal and very competitive helped him get into a couple of schools that he would have not otherwise had met the academic qualifications for.</p>
<p>All of the top music schools are exceptionally competitive and you need to start practicing now every second you can. You need to be able to go into auditions with the confidence that you are as prepaired as you can be and that you will perform as well as anyone. Being confident (confident, not cocky) when you audition is the key to a good performance.</p>
<p>You also need to have more than one “saftey” school that you audition for. Getting into a top rated school is awsome, but if you only audition at top rated schools you may be setting yourself up for the possibility of failure. There is nothing wrong with going to your state university or the college in your own county or a neighboring county. I think that attending a “regular” college would be much preferable than not being accepted by any college.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I biggest regret is that my son didn’t audition at at least one higher level school as he was accepted by all 4of the schools that he auditioned for (the last place he auditioned at cut him off during before he finished his first piece and told him that they “didn’t need to hear anymore because he was going to be accepted and recieve a scholarship”). I would have almost rather him be rejected at one of the schools he auditioned at than to be accepted by all. Now we will always wonder if he could have gotten into a higher level school. </p>
<p>As far as “what it takes to get an audition”, that one is the easy question. Just apply (many colleges you just fill out an online form) and look at the schools website for instructions for scheduling an audition. Don’t worry so much about getting an audition, just start making a list of schools that you would consider attending, along with their application deadlines and audition dates (audition dates for next year probably will not be announced until early next fall). </p>
<p>The rest of it, you do need to worry about. You need to be getting with a private instructor (if you haven’t already) and let the instructor guide you a little as to what pieces would be good for you to audition with (maybe provide the instructor with printouts of each schools audition requirements). You may want to seek multiple opinions (high school orchistra teacher, private instructor, and maybe someone who you don’t even know for a more objective evaluation) of your skill and talent level to get an idea of what level school would be appropriate for you.</p>
<p>Determining what level your playing ability is at is very difficult without hearing other performers who are in your same position (less than a year from auditioning for college) and knowing what level they play at. Personally, I had no idea about my son. I knew that he was one of the best in his high school band, but that doesn’t tell you a lot because most high school band musicians are not applying for music school. You could look for any type of music competitions that you could attend (as a spectator or as a competitor) just so that you could see and hear people who may eventually be one of your competitors for a college music spot. These events are rare, but they do exist. Again, that may be something that your teacher could help you to find.</p>
<p>Great advice from everyone. I also urge you to sit down with your parents and find out what your budget for college is. Then when you make up your list of dream schools and safeties be sure to include 1 or 2 that are safe from a talent/academic standpoint as well as from an economic or financial aid perspective. My big fear this year was my son getting accepted to his dream school and having to tell him he can’t afford to attend. If you read through the posts on this forum you’ll start to get a feel for which schools have good scholarships, and financial aid and which don’t.</p>
<p>Good advice already. A couple of other points:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>While getting an audition at some schools is as simple as applying, at some other schools, you must first submit a prescreening recording (usually a DVD or CD, but some schools are in the process of allowing electronic submissions). Those schools requiring prescreens tend to have application dates around Dec. 1, so most people recommend doing the recording in October so that when things go wrong (at least a couple usually do), you have plenty of time to get a good recording done and to get your application in with time to spare. There are many threads dealing with all aspects of prescreening recordings.</p></li>
<li><p>In addition to regular private lessons with the best teacher you can find, you should schedule a couple of lessons with experienced college violin teachers. The benefits of these lessons:
a) getting their feedback on your playing: what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to work on your weaknesses;
b) getting feedback on your audition repertoire if it is ready for them to work with;
c) getting guidance as to what are appropriate schools for you. The teacher can “tune you in” if you are aiming too high or too low; be sure to ask them what good target schools would be for you;<br>
d) getting experience working with different high level teachers; I think that it takes some experience working with a variety of good teachers before you can make a wise choice as to what sort of teacher would be a good fit for you. Many people say that the decisive factor in choosing a school for a performance major should always be teacher fit; and<br>
e) getting a feel for an audition; while these lessons will be much less formal than an audition, they are still an opportunity to play in front of a great set of ears and experience some of the audition anxiety.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Even if each of these lessons cost $100 to $200 and even if they are difficult to schedule, the money and time are very well spent if the lessons will help direct your applications to appropriate schools at which you stand a good chance of gaining acceptance and solid financial aid.</p>
<p>If you live near Mannes or Hartt, try to schedule one or two lessons at each with propective teachers. Mannes can be very competitive. Some of its violin faculty also teach at other top NYC schools like Juilliard. </p>
<p>You ask about what auditions feel like: read the various threads on audition experiences. Everyone’s experiences are different and schools can be very different from each other, so no single person can adequately describe the audition experience. You will get a feel after reading several dozen posts.</p>
<p>You probably know, but just in case . . ., almost all undergrad violin auditions require one or two movements of unaccompanied Bach, one or two movements of a standard concerto, and one or two etudes (Pag at strong schools). Some schools have unique requirements (e.g. NEC: sonata; Juilliard: post-1939 piece; Curtis: Mozart concerto).</p>
<p>Best of luck in your preparations!</p>
<p>I am a high school senior, and I applied and auditioned to music programs this year. I am going to college this fall for a BM in piano performance, so I could help you with audition stuff in general, but I don’t know a whole lot about violin, except that I do have a friend who also auditioned this year for violin programs.</p>
<p>A few general tips/info about auditions:
- Some require prescreening CDs.
- Some will take CDs if you live “x” miles away, others don’t care how far, you have to go for a live audition anyways- budget $ and time accordingly for this. Plan when you’ll audition to each school on your list a few months ahead of time- schedule the auditions with the school asap. Another thing with that- some schools let you audition any day of the week and schedule it on an individual basis, while most have anywhere from 1 or more audition days to choose from. Expect to be on campus the entire audition day, and sometimes the night before too. I had one where it was the afternoon/night before and the next day.
- Allow time for travel to auditions, and weather delays since most auditions occur Jan.-March, so snow can be a problem if you looking at schools in snowy states.<br>
- Look at audition requirements early because some schools may require 2 pieces, while others might need 5-6, and you have to do it all that they require, or your audition won’t count.
- Audition performance needs to be played/practiced probably to the best level of performance you have ever done, better than any competition or recital. Your acceptance and scholarships depend on it.</p>
<p>That’s what I can think of for music majors in general off the top of my head right now…any questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Get in as much experience as you can ahead of time in audition-like situations. Audition for concerto competitions, any local juried competitions, etc. Start working on the required pieces now, and make sure your solo piece(s) are well under your fingers. Play mock auditions for teachers, friends and families well in advance of your audition dates next year. Getting used to auditions will result in good, relaxed auditions where your musicality shines through. And that’s really the point of it - letting them see your musicality and what you will offer their program.</p>
<p>Slightly OT, but since the OP was a violinist, I don’t feel too bad about asking…</p>
<p>The infamous post-1939 Juilliard requirement: I know the committee doesn’t usually hear this piece anyways, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Would the Barber Violin Concerto, which was written in 1939 but performed for the first time in 1945 (and subsequently revised, I believe), be acceptable?</p>
<p>portia0101: Questions about borderline cases are always best sent directly to the school–get it from the horse’s mouth! You probably know that normally the post-1939 cannot be a concerto movement; if it is, then it meets the concerto requirement rather than the concert piece requirement; and then you must play an 18th or 19th-century concert piece. </p>
<p>If you do go with the Barber as your post-1939, then the committee will almost certainly hear a portion of it and you will have to give up having your Brahms/Beethoven/Sibelius concerto on the list.</p>
<p>The following is quoted from Juilliard’s requirements:</p>
<p>“A piece or movement written since 1939 other than a concerto (include the date of composition with the title). If the concerto selected for No. 1 above was composed after 1939, present an 18th or 19th-century concert piece.”</p>
<p>Personally, I think that in a case which is borderline in terms of the date, I would go with whether the piece’s style fits better before or after the date; to my ear, the Barber aligns more with pre-1939. Don’t go with my opinion thought; contact Juilliard.</p>
<p>If you friend the Juilliard Admissions Office on facebook you can ask questions which will be answered by the admissions staff. Perhaps more fun than calling the office-- they are actually very friendly and helpful either way you contact them.</p>
<p>thanks so much. I will post anymore questions that I have when i can think of them… many thanks to everyone who has been posting!! it is very much appreciated.
I am going to try and introduce a new topic, if you will, to this thread…I have been looking at Music Education as well. Audition requirements are the same overall for any specification of music major, yes?</p>