Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could give me input about whether I should continue onto the regionals in NATS circuit. At the auditions in my state, I came in 4th place with honors in my category ( Upper high school classical women). SC is quite a hike for me so is it worth it? Is it a good use of my time and money? My voice teacher says it would be a good way to prepare for the hectic life on the road for when I do my college auditions next year…
Thanks!
That all depends on what you want to get out of it. D found that NATs was a great way to practice auditioning in front of a panel.
What would make it “worth it” for you?
If it’s going to cost a lot and cut into study time for exams, then I’d say “no”. This is your junior year, and keeping your grades up now is important too, so you have to look at the entire picture of time, cost, etc. Do you get a lot of opportunity to sing in public? If you need the practice to put you at ease for next year, then that is something to put in the plus column- then also consider what musica has asked. What would you like to get from the competition?
For some students, the experience would be well worth it and they don’t have to worry about funds for travel and auditions next year, while others operate on a much tighter budget. Only you can know where you fall on that spectrum.
sopranogurl,
I think NATS is a perfect way to get to know who are you going to be auditioning for colleges with, come next year. You can see the level of talent, and how well you fit into that pool. Also, you get to see what repertoire people are auditioning with, which is a big plus. You will realize your strengths and your weak spots that require the most work. D did chapter auditions last year in both classical (lower HS) and MT categories, then went through the youtube selection step, and got to Nationals in MT. This year she placed at regionals, and again, is eligible to submit to National youtube round. At any level it’s a great thing to have on your resume. You do not have to detail the place, just say something like “finalist”, which is already impressive. Best vocal programs will take a note of it, when you apply.
It seems that you and D are going the same route this summer. She also submitted to WNO Opera Institute and Tanglewood, as well as Oberlin, CCM and Carnegie Mellon…
In actuality, music schools and their faculty members don’t give a hoot if you place at NATS (or anything short of the Met Council Auditions!) or not. Not all students have the opportunity to attend the competitions, even at local levels, because many teachers, excellent ones, are not members, and the organization is not popular in all regions of the country.Your resume isn’t looked at by the faculty when you apply- it’s your prescreen, if required, and your application and transcript, and those things go through the admissions office.
If you want to do a competition for the experience, by all means go ahead. It’s always good to get out there and sing in front of people, but only you know if this competition is one that fits comfortably financially and time-wise at this point. I wish you luck @sopranogurl and hope that we’ll see you here next year as you enter your audition season!