<p>To answer Cosmos’ question, my A is applying to:</p>
<ul>
<li>YOA</li>
<li>EMF</li>
<li>Roundtop</li>
<li>Texam Music Festival</li>
<li>Sarasota</li>
<li>She also requested an audition for Spoleto because it’s a local audition and it doesn’t cost anything to request it bu odds are that she won’t even get the audition to begin with but it doesn’t hurt to ask. :)</li>
</ul>
<p>Looking at this, it seems to me that we might not be hedging our bets too well because only EMF is not a free program and free programs are more competitive? </p>
<p>Last year we were not really planning for summer programs and there was no money set aside for them so she only half-heartedly applied to EMF. In her application she put down a minimal amount of money and she said ‘no’ to the question of whether she could still attend if on money was offered. In the end they told her she was wait listed (not sure if that it the term) and she didn’t get called, even though the guy that recorded her audition told her that she sounded great and he was sure she would hear good news.
So, in other words, I think my advice is to always say that yes, you will go if accepted, no matter what.</p>
<p>Maybe we should look into applying to other programs that are less competitive, just in case. Does anybody have any ideas?</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about the Strings International Summer Music Festival at Bryn Mawr College? I stumbled across this festival and they have a College / Professional level program. </p>
<p>Thanks for the links, Violadad, this could possibly be a backup plan for him. We will call to clarify that he would be in the college level program. His concern is obviously the level of the players if the audition is just for placement, not admission. His first priority, though, is to get a paying job this summer.</p>
<p>I think most music festivals announce their decisions much later than this. Most of the ones I’ve seen say end of March.</p>
<p>Does anybody know how hard it is to get into Domaine Forget? It’s not really clear in the website when they make ‘decisions’ and it’s attractive because it has a late deadline to apply.</p>
<p>Re: Domaine Forget–in prior years, son received decisions for various programs March 30 and April 23 but I believe he applied very late for these.</p>
<p>My experience with Domaine is limited to strings (the brass have their own weeks which do not overlap with the strings), but I think they use a similar approach for various instruments. There is a wider range of playing abilities among those admitted partly because of the wide range of ages. Some of the college players are excellent and would probably be competitive in the very best summer programs; often they have chosen to follow a particular teacher to Domaine. My son had a good two weeks there and learned plenty. [Frenchhornmom: I have sent you a pm.]</p>
<p>I got into a music festival in Germany (some opera thing in Bayreuth). Good faculty, full-scholarship and some of the musicians are great friends of mine. The problem is that it’s not exactly, exactly during the holidays (two weeks gap)…</p>
<p>Is it really stupid to miss two weeks of school to go to a music festival ? How hard are two weeks of collegework to catch up ?</p>
<p>Re Domain Forget - my observations (string only!) are exactly the same as violindad’s - range of abilities.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Brevard? I don’t know the horn competition, but strings players tend to have a wider range of ability/accomplishment than some other summer programs (even in the college division). NO slur intended with that comment. There are certainly fine college-age string players who chose to attend Brevard. Faculty is generally very good although I wouldn’t know about horn!</p>
<p>My daughter did a live audition today for a well-known string chamber program’s festival program, which is tuition-free. She feels she might be on the young side for the program but decided to audition since she is in the middle of college auditions and has her rep in top shape. Two years ago she auditioned for their high school program and was an alternate. The audition was held at The Local Conservatory. She had received email telling her specifically which warm-up rooms had been reserved and where the audition room was. When we arrived half an hour early, the guard told us that there was no one upstairs at the moment auditioning for the program and directed her to the same rooms noted in the email. I waited downstairs and she called me to say that both rooms were occupied, presumably by conservatory students, because it did not sound like warm-ups for an audition, and, as the guard had noted, there was no one upstairs for the audition besides her. She did not get to warm up. She and her accompanist waited outside the half-opened door (no sound inside) of the audition room until the precise moment of the scheduled audition. There was one person inside with a videocam, who did not introduce himself. She played a few pages of her concerto until he stopped her; then payed one movement of Bach. The same thing happened two years ago-- except, that time the guard was unaware that there were auditions being held and would not allow my daughter and her pianist to go upstairs. Finally, the man running the auditions came down and angrily announced her name, thinking we were late (we had been half an hour early.) We don’t have high hopes for her being admitted this program, but my daughter felt it was a good experience, having to audition cold, with no warm up. I wonder if the program director, who presumably reserved and paid for the warm-up rooms, should be informed that they were not available.</p>
<p>Thanks v-dad and fiddlestix for the information. I have a much better idea about DF now.</p>
<p>And she is planning on applying to Brevard, although it was not on her original list, because she missed one of the deadlines in her list and, also, to try to maximize her chance of getting into a program. It can get really expensive doing so many applications! I never even <em>knew</em> there were so many summer programs, lol. And the agony of waiting for a response… it’s like applying to college every year!</p>
<p>Glassharmonica, I am sure that the program director would appreciate to hear about your experience as he probably is (or should be) concerned with making sure that the auditions run smoothly.
I don’t know how it works with string players but warming up is totally a must for brass players. I guess it would be a good idea for any instrumentalist to make sure they play a little bit before even setting out for the audition just in case they can’t get a warm up room once they get there.
Good luck with your auditions!</p>
<p>I have heard many a warm-up emanating from bathrooms. Some musicians even claim to love the acoustics created by all the reflective hard surfaces!</p>
<p>Yes, summer program application are expensive and can also involve $$$ for CD/DVD’s or travel to live auditions. Like you say, can feel like college applications every year!</p>
<p>I also wanted to point out that there are numerous college/conservatory students who do not attend a festival or program every summer. Last summer, I chatted regularly with 2 local Juilliard undergrads who were home - unstructured time! Many college students need their summers to work a job to pay school bills or need a bit of time to recoup from high pressure school year experiences away from festivals that can also feel very competitive. Sometimes, I think that CC may give the impression that students who do not attend or who are not admitted to “prestigious” programs don’t have a chance post college. Although summer programs can be wonderful as education and/or “life” experiences, they aren’t necessarily a predictor of the future!</p>
<p>You are absolutely right, fiddlestix, it will not be the end of the world if DD (I just read the least of abbreviations ) doesn’t go to a summer festival.</p>
<p>I don’t thinkt that she feels this is a very important step in her career, I think she wants to go for the fun. In fact, she never did any summer camps until her senior year in high school, when she went to BUTI and had a great time there in spite of her complaints about the food…</p>
<p>That being said, rejection always stings… err… speaking for myself… but I’m sure it affects her too :D</p>
<p>My D just finished her auditions for summer programs. Some were live and 2 just wanted a cd. The live ones were basically just recorded. I wonder if there is any benefit to auditioning live for these festivals or if she could just should have sent a cd to all.</p>
<p>Personally, I quite like doing CD’s for all my festivals, unless live audition is required. That way I can spend as much time as I want on each track and be sure that it sounds the way I want before I send it away. Also, if you do a CD, you get rid of the whole mess of nerves that always occurs at auditions - It’s good to deal with nerves though, but if you don’t have to do it, it’s nice to avoid it. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m hoping to start hearing from festivals soon… Was supposed to hear from one last week but didn’t. I hope they’re just slow and that I haven’t gotten rejected :(</p>
) doesn’t go to a summer festival.</p>