Suggestions for BM Voice Re-Audition

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hi everyone!</p>

<p>I wanted to ask everybody's advice on an odd situation.</p>

<p>This spring, I was invited to and auditioned for the BM Voice Performance programs at Boston University, Northwestern University, and McGill University. (I'm a spinto/light lyric soprano with strong coluratura if that matters). I wasn't accepted at any of the programs, but I will be attendting McGill for their BA Music program in the fall.</p>

<p>Obviously this is very disappointing for me, especially since all the auditions went well (except for Northwestern, I had to sing through a cold) and the panels liked me. However, I didn't get in. </p>

<p>I got a note a while after my Northwestern rejection telling me that they loved my tone, but my vocal technique was not up to their standards. Upon showing this email to my voice teacher, he freaked out and yelled at me that he taught me technique but it was my fault that "you didn't listen and never learned it." Now, I can tell you that all my teacher did was teach me how to sing songs and that I would often go for a month or two without lessons because he didn't feel like teaching, or was performing. I've checked my calendar and realized that over the past two years (junior and senior year) I averaged two 45-minute lessons a month, learning songs. Clearly that was not enough. </p>

<p>I have a new voice teacher and am working one-hour lessons twice a week to perfect my technique. She is amazing and I'm making good progress. After an agonizing month or so of trying to decide whether to take a gap year and try again with a clean slate, I've decided to take my chances re-auditioning into Schulich at McGill.</p>

<p>Does anyone have experience with something like this? Should I ask the faculty for an evaluation when I get there so I know what to work on? I'm so worried that I won't get in again, and singing opera is the only thing I want to do. I feel like I'm being punished because I didn't have an advantage like some of the other kids did and didn't know that what my old teacher was doing was not sufficient to get me into a competitive BM program, as I'm the first person in my family to do anything with music.</p>

<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>I am going to play Devil’s Advocate a bit here, so… And you might want to remove your name from your post since it could be used to recognize you.
First, you should not be typing your voice as narrowly as you have. You could be a light lyric or a lyric coloratura, but leave the “spinto” part out entirely. As a very famous internationally-known soprano told me recently, " No one should be mentioning the term “spinto” until a singer is at least the age of 30, and then…well, there’s time enough to get to that!". Two one hour lessons a week now? Unless one of those is just working on rep or doing music theory/aural skills, etc, you are endangering your voice. While the “two 45 minute lessons/month” while preparing for auditions was not enough, two hours now. especially without good solid technique is putting your voice at great risk, and no reputable teacher would do this. Singers work with a “living instrument” and can’t keep the same work schedule that instrumentalists do.
VP majors almost always arrive at higher education at varying levels, again as opposed to instrumentalists classmates who use very similar rep, according to instrument, to audition. Often singers are accepted on “potential” since voices mature at different rates and technical training varies widely.So don’t feel that you were being punished; you had a fair shot but the others who auditioned where you did were a better fit for those open spots. Don’t count on getting an “evaluation” from a panel either- they hear many singers and the chance of them being able to remember you after the audition day is slim. Also, they are reluctant to offer criticism because of the nature of our litigious society.
I understand that you can’t see yourself doing anything other than “singing opera” at this point in time, but the fact that you were not accepted into any of the programs you applied to may be a wake-up call. Maybe you need to try for schools that are not as competitive and give yourself a chance to catch-up, if that is what’s needed, or even look at a non-audition program. There is always the chance that you just don’t have what is needed and if you truly love opera and want to be involved with it, then look at stage-managing or technical programs. Conservatories make their money on the backs of sopranos: there are far too many girls and most will never find themselves singing on a big stage anywhere. Harsh, yes, but also very true. Think about how many violins are in that pit while the one, two or three women on a stage are singing. It’s talent, drive and a huge amount of luck. Make a list of schools who are not in the top tier, or even the second, but where you could be happy. You can get a fine education and good training at some LACs or smaller, regional schools. Think ahead, because there are more auditions to come in just a couple of years:graduate school. And you don’t want to be in debt after these next 4 years and find yourself unable to audition into any grad program.
Remember, you can’t learn years of technique in a few months or even a year. It will come, but take your time, keep your voice safe and let it mature at it’s own pace. Broaden your scope and find a teacher you like at at school you like and enjoy your time there.</p>

3

<p>Voice is very competitive at McGill, especially for sopranos. I continually hear of excellent vocalists that do not get accepted at McGill (and do get accepted elsewhere and often with healthy scholarships). So mezzo’smama’s advice to apply to some other schools is wise; it is always risky to put all one’s eggs in one basket when it comes to music auditions, and vocal ones are even riskier and less predictable than instrumental ones.</p>

<p>I agree with Mezzo’sMama that the auditioning panel is unlikely to recall your audition well enough to provide any valuable feedback this many months after the fact. However, if by getting feedback, you mean should you get some lessons with McGill vocal faculty, then the answer is yes. Ideally you should study on a weekly basis with a member of McGill’s vocal faculty if you can arrange it.</p>

4

<p>“I feel like I’m being punished because I didn’t have an advantage like some of the other kids did and didn’t know that what my old teacher was doing was not sufficient to get me into a competitive BM program, as I’m the first person in my family to do anything with music.”</p>

<p>I sympathize with the postion you are in, but you have to understand that life is not fair! Also the sooner you realize that YOU are your best (and maybe only) advocate in the music world, the better off you will be. You are in the right direction - technique is everything and what you need is an excellent teacher to get you on the right path.</p>

<p>Unless you were dramatic, spinto is as far from a light lyric soprano as you can get, so I agree that you should drop that nomenclature. You also have to realize that your fach is the most common of all at your age, so naturally there will be the most competition. </p>

<p>I don’t agree that two one hour lessons a week are dangerous in the least. Make sure your teacher is good (listen to their other students, talk to other professionals), you are making progress and never feel tired or hoarse coming out of the lessons. In the old days singers would get daily lessons since they lived with their teachers and they were much further advanced then young singers today because of it. Just make sure that you are listening to a recording of the lesson daily and making sure you are absorbing the lesson or you are wasting your money and time.</p>

<p>Congrats on getting into a BA program at McGill. Find a great voice teacher up there in the fall when you start your undergraduate and get their opinion on if and when you should re-audition. Best of luck!</p>

5

<p>Saw your post and just want to weigh in in favor of a gap year and reapplying, assuming you can get McGill to defer your entry for a year. I have seen this work well where there’s been a change in teacher. Even though it’s late, I think you could find an interesting gap year experience for the first semester. You could do your prescreen CDs in August, go off on your gap semester, and do your auditions in the spring in a leisurely manner, without juggling the auditions with all the stuff you had in your last year of high school. What do you have to lose?</p>

6

<p>Unfortunately, preparing to get into music school is not a very fair thing, there are all kinds of pitfalls that can hit you when on this path. Specifically, access to teachers is uneven, and quite frankly there are a lot of mediocre music teachers out there, many of whom will sell themselves as knowledgeable and such when they aren’t (it is basically Caveat Emptor), and of course even a great teacher might not work well with a certain student. There are also financial limitations and issues with time, in the violin world there are kids from well off families who from the time they are very little, are basically doing music and nothing but music (or kids in state programs like China’s), competing against kids who have actually gone to school and done other things and attempted to do music, too… and in audition programs,very little of that is relevant other then in some cases with underrepresented group dynamics, it is how the person does on the audition, and the kid with better preparation has a better chance of getting in.</p>

<p>While I agree with Mezzo Mom that the panel is unlikely to remember you there is another alternative here, maybe you could arrange with one of the Voice faculty to give you an evaluation? Might cost you some money to do so, but they may be able to give you an honest evaluation of where you are versus your goals, specifically, where I am now, do you think it will be possible for me to pull my level up to where there is the possibility I can get in? Are you already pretty much there, and just need some refinement, or are the basic fundamentals out of whack (for example, if it were a violinist, there is a difference between a student who, for example, had good solid technique but needed to work on style issues, let’s say in playing 20th century music, as opposed to someone with basic issues like intonation)…one might be doable in a year, the other one not so much.</p>

<p>Appropo of what Mezzo Mama said about lessons and practicing, given you want to re-audition next year is it even physically possible, given the realistic limitations of how much work you can do in that time? I can’t and won’t say how many hours a week you can have lessons or practice with voice, but I have seen plenty of kids in the instrumental world, specifically violin, who were in similar situations and ended up practicing so much they ended up with bursitis and tendonitis and tunnel carpal syndrome…</p>

<p>It is why an honest evaluation is important before making the decision. Hopefully because you would be paying them for an honest assessment they would be willing to tell you where they think you are and whether it is reasonable to expect to be ready to audition, which after all would be 7 or 8 months from now (assuming you would audition for fall 2012 transfer/admittance). If you don’t feel comfortable with faculty, maybe find an outside teacher with a reputation to do it.</p>

7

<p>Great suggestions by others, and just a minor note to add (so to speak/groan.)</p>

<p>Have you considered the possibility of enjoying your BA Music undergrad at McGill, building your technique with a top McGill instructor (paid privately in addition to your school work) and simply proceeding to audition for a Masters? That would give you ample time to properly develop your technique without forsaking your passion and without the types of injury that come from attempting to close a wide gap.</p>

<p>Like other posters have mentioned, I know a classical guitarist who injured himself after exposure to bad technique, and who had to go away and completely retrain/heal/recalibrate in the middle of doing his masters – at no small cost in terms of time and therapy. Today he is very successful.</p>

<p>If you are passionate, determined, and yet careful with yourself, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot get to where you want to be. It’s a journey, not a race :wink:
Best wishes.</p>

<p>PS - Also, if you’re Canadian, enjoy the fact that McGill will be comparatively a supremely cheap date as an undergrad. For that matter, the same holds true even if you’re American :wink: Either way, McGill is a better fiscal bet than NU if you’re not in a high-need category!</p>

8

<p>The old masters and teachers of singing made the most progress with their students, working their technique, when they saw them almost every day…it is the ideal way to get the voice established. Unfortunately it is rarely possible for reasons of logistics and finances, and eventually, a singer has to find out enough about her/himself to get the voice to where it needs to be, what is possible, each day. You are fortunate to now have access to a fine teacher who is giving you tools to use, things to think about, progress to make. </p>

<p>To audition as a soprano is a huge disadvantage, and the line is very long. All you can do is develop your talent, consider all your options, do your best. It may work out, but the odds are long. Meanwhile, get the best possible general education, which will give you a strong foundation in the liberal arts, and enrich everything you do in life. Just because you are not competitive now does not mean you will not be one of the best in a few years. Most of the finest singers I know emerged from a lot of discouraging experiences. There are no guarantees in either direction. Being wonderful and promising at 18 is great, but it does not necessarily mean this will continue, even with the best teacher in the world. Some of us are not physiologically able to evolved and develop to a higher plateau. There is NO predicting the outcome. All anyone can say is what they hear today. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>