<p>DD had vocal audition at Juilliard on Thursday....although DD and DH had been a couple of times for a lesson this was my first time to visit....WOW you walk in through the glass entry way up the fabulous staircase to the security counter....It's everything you would think it would be....come on it's Juilliard! </p>
<p>DD had audition at SUNY Purchase today...there was no grand entrance or security. However, what we did find were classrooms that were adequate, nice practice rooms, friendly-helpful admission personel and smiling students that were happy to answer any question we could think to ask..</p>
<p>Yes the campus at SUNY is a bit isolated....daughter thinks that if she attends she will require a Vespa! However...hate to break it to her but there are hourly shuttles to Whiteplains (10 minutes away) which we hear has 2 nice malls and easy train access into Manhattan....what more could she want.</p>
<p>As far as the faculty...She took a lesson last week with a teacher who she loved...Her audition did not go smoothly today....She has been fighting a virus all week which has left her fatigued and then to boot we found she had spent the night sleeping on the hotel floor because she had become hot during the night (those darn hotels are sometimes so hard to get cooled off--fine the night before...hothouse last night). She found the audition committe to be very kind after she forgot the words to her second song. They even let her go on and sing part of her third song.</p>
<p>The performance facilities are very nice....They have many important groups come through almost on a weekly basis that the students can attend the performance for a mere $5...They have fine recording facilities....Just last week Renee Fleming was there doing some recording.</p>
<p>So although we have read many so-so things on this board about Purchase from people who have visited... we have come out with a favorable impression and if offered the chance (doubtful after the audition) we would have to give it serious consideration.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that things didn't go as smoothly as you would have wanted today, but, as we are determining, these things have a way of sorting themselves out in the end and your D will end up where she is supposed to be. It's all over now and it's time to rest- after this week, you all need it!</p>
<p>Yes you are right...things do and will sort themselves out and she will land where she is supposed to!</p>
<p>Auditions are over...just 2 schools to visit campus of over spring break....reauditioning at one for scholarship..so for us...makes the wait to April 1st a little shorter as we will still be busy :)</p>
<p>You must all be exhausted! I hope she recovers quickly and you and your husband avoid the ailment. Keep hydrated all the way home. You are right....she will find her place. Safe journeys!</p>
<p>Good luck with your D's search. We will visit Purchase on 23rd and 24th this month. All done by email so far, but very friendly service, and have offered my boy and I three classes to sit on for the Tuesday: Composition seminar, electro-acoustic music, and music theory. Not bad at all. Still struggling to communicate with BU, NEC and some others!</p>
<p>Yes, access to Purchase is very easy from NYC. Got a direct train to White Plains every half hour or so, that only takes half an hour. Then a quick bus or taxi run. Looking forward to a snow-free day! :)</p>
<p>Opera-mom, how'd your daughter do with the sight-reading part. My kid is generally pretty good at it and always got top marks in district chorus auditions, but the piece they handed her today at Purchase really knocked her for a loop. She also had problems with her accompanist on Legrenzi's "Che fiero costume". She thought her other pieces went well.</p>
<p>Did you go to the forum with the voice faculty at 1:00PM? We had a mixup and didn't get there.</p>
<p>Glad to hear a good report about Purchase. Sorry your D didn't feel she performed at her best. Still, you never know. They're not looking for perfection--potential, nice tone quality, and good vocal habits count for a lot. Let's hope you can all get some rest. And certainly, your D will end up in a great place for her.</p>
<p>How did the Juilliard audition go? My daughter had a great time and found everyone very warm and encouraging! She was there with DH on Wednesday.</p>
<p>My former teacher is on faculty at both Juilliard and SUNY Purchase (as well as MSM). If he's any indication of the level of the faculty at SUNY Purchase, the teachers there must be really excellent.</p>
<p>Opera-mom, so sorry your D was under the weather for her Purchase audition. I will keep watch to see how things turn out for her. I hope she feels better soon!</p>
<p>Well if your DD had problems with the sightreading and you say she is normally good then perhaps my DD will feel better about the job she did....she claims not to be terribly good at sight readeing and did indeed have problems with that portion of the audition.</p>
<p>They video tape everything...would love to see it</p>
<p>It's interesting that Purchase video tapes everything- most of the top schools arrange things so that the entire faculty concerned with each instrument/voice sit in on the audition. I would like to know who ultimately makes the decision there and if it's because most of the voice faculty, in this case, are adjunct and aren't available for all of the auditions? Just curious- does anyone have any answers?</p>
<p>Not for sure who makes admittance decisions...but I believe that DD mentioned that there were 2 men and 1 woman in attendance at her audition...(I believe there are 3 female and 2 or 3 male teachers at the school). I do know that one of the female vocal teachers is also on faculty at Mannes....another teaches at Queens college...SUNY has several audition days and they are all right in a row...the last one being this Tuesday...Therefore it would be a bit hard to drop all the committments you have elsewhere to listen to several days of auditions.</p>
<p>Perhaps they all look at the ones that were considered true possibilities?</p>
<p>There are 3 female teachers and 2 male teachers yes. Students have been asked to join the program after their auditions. They are looking for a very small number of students, my class started with 16 students, and now 3 years later is down to 9 students. Jac video tapes the auditions so that if there is a question later then he can re-watch it. Jac makes the decision, its generally up to him, Kaori Sato is a voice teacher, and hugh murphy teaches art song classes and conducts and musically directs the operas.
If its any consolation to your D opera-mom, I was SURE that I didn't get into the program and I was admitted in.
Cosmos: Who is your teacher?</p>
<p>So, tinysinger, how freaked should my D be over the sightreading section. She said it was a really nasty piece to try and do cold. It's the part she's most worried about right now.</p>
<p>You can post some links, e.g. to a policy on a school website, or to a news story that may be of general interest. Links to photos, videos and personal sites are not permitted. The following is in the Terms of Service for this forum:</p>
<p>"Links to Forums, Blogs, Social Network Pages, Photos, Videos, and Personal Sites. Please do not post links to other discussion forums, blogs, personal sites, or other non-authoritative sources. This includes Facebook, Myspace, and similar sites. In order to fulfill our mission of being the best college discussion forum, we want important topics to be discussed here at College Confidential. Linking to discussions elsewhere defeats this purpose. Links to non-authoritative sites like blogs, personal sites, etc., can't be researched for validity on an individual basis and hence are not allowed. All such links will be removed. Similarly, please do not post email addresses or solicit private messages or email communications from other members. While occasionally you may choose to contact an individual member via email or private message when the member accepts such messages, solicitation of such contacts in the forums is not permitted. Links to photos, videos,wallpapers, etc. cannot be verified as appropriate and should not be posted."</p>
<p>Some people have gotten around this by starting a Facebook group and then posting a message inviting others to join that group. They can then use that group for exchanging the kind of thing that is not allowed here.</p>
<p>I want to show ya'll an Opera Scene done at SUNY Purchase. This was done during my sohphomore year. You can see the level of work being done. This was staged by a student, and working on in German Diction class and Stage tech class.
Go to youtube, and copy this in to the search bar
Fidelio Op. 72: "Jetzt, Sch</p>
<p>Kind of a different take on this topic, and it kind of deals with the very idea of what makes a music conservatory (or any college for that matter) good or better or best.</p>
<p>Juilliard has a worldwide reputation in the music world, a name that is known far and wide, and has a track record of success in terms of its graduates (success meaning people who have become top level performers or teachers). Going there, someone has name recognition and also the potential to network, which is important of course.</p>
<p>However, I could also argue that Juilliard (or any top notch conservatory) is not "X" (fill in the blank with some other program). At any top school there are high level teachers and programs, but there also are ones who aren't so great. A student might do really well going to a smaller school that has a really topnotch teacher in their instrument/specialty, rather then going to a top level school and getting lost. I have seen schools (Bard currently comes to mind) that seem to be developing a top notch program, where a student could get potentially a world class education riding the wave of 'the next Juilliard" that might work better then the 'real thing'. I also kind of wonderay (and this is my speculation only) if at a big conservatory a student who has potential, but just hasn't been really triggered yet, doesn't get lost in the shuffle, perhaps not getting the best of faculty, whereas at a smaller program they might have more chance at the better faculty.
Anyway, thought I would throw that out in the discussion to add a different perspective.</p>
<p>musicprnt-- excellent points. I think what budding musicians should strive for in a school is a balance of personal attention and "room to grow." If you're by far the most advanced singer in a program, it may be fun to always get the lead, but ultimately, you aren't pushing yourself to improve. On the other hand, you're absolutely right-- if you're at a place like Juilliard, it can be very hard to get noticed unless you're in the top 5 percent, so you may not be able to make use of all those great connections and opportunities. As with all other college searches, it's all about finding the right "fit." Some people come into undergrad with lots of performing experience and technical training. They may thrive in a high-pressure environment. Others may have lots of potential but little experience. They would probably do better in a place where there is more emphasis on the process, and less on the product. There's a time to focus on polishing-- but for MOST people, that doesn't happen at age 18, or even 22.</p>