<p>Who told you that you cannot be invited for a live audition? If they were not from music school admissions they could be wrong. In that case, contacting the music school admissions office as soon as possible is essential.</p>
<p>If someone in the music admissions office told you this, then arguing with them will probably do no good. If you spoke with an admissions rep or a department secretary rather than the head of admissions and you can prove that the package was received, you have nothing to lose by contacting the head of admissions and asking politely if he or she will review your case.</p>
<p>Contacting the teacher could be good or bad, depending on what kind of relationship the two of you have and on what kind of personality the teacher has. If you have any reason to believe that this particular teacher might act on your behalf, or might even be willing to hear your audition outside of the normal times, then you should try. If you have bad vibes about this teacher, then probably not.</p>
<p>In cases like this, phone calls will be more effective than email. It is much easier to blow someone off by email than it is when you are speaking with them in real time. If you happen to be close by, showing up in person would be even better.</p>
<p>In any event, all is not lost. Students are accepted at almost all music schools based on recorded auditions, else why have them at all. In most cases, the same pieces used for the prescreen can also be used for a recorded audition and you can simply send them another copy. If that is not the case here or if you think you can do better, then you need to get started on another recording as soon as you can. </p>
<p>There are a few lessons to learn from this:</p>
<p>1) Never give anyone your only copy of anything.</p>
<p>2) Verification of receipt is essential. When sending something this important, always require that a signed delivery receipt be returned to you. It costs a few dollars more, but it is money well spent.</p>
<p>3) Admissions materials have a way of getting lost or misfiled when schools are getting thousands of applications over a period of a few weeks. As you have seen, you can suffer for a mistake someone else makes. If you anticipate that, you can be ready with a plan B. Send the recording in early enough so that you can call to confirm that it was received at least a couple of days before the deadline. You will then have enough time to send another copy if necessary.</p>