Here is a breakdown of our CCM audition experience. Although we had a snowy start the morning we left, we arrived in Cincinnati on time Friday morning. We stayed at the Kingsgate Marriott and I would highly recommend it. They were very accommodating to all of those auditioning. A practice room was available as well as a shuttle door to door to campus and other local spots. On Friday we did a regular UC college tour since we had not visited yet. We were very impressed with the campus as a whole, and my daughter liked the way the CCM complex was integrated into the rest of the campus. I was impressed with the level of design that seemed to be incorporated into each building. However, it was extremely cold and windy that day, with “feels like” in the negative. After spending several hours walking around outside we decided to stay at the hotel for the rest of the evening. Dinner in the restaurant was very good and we were able to find reasonably priced (for hotel food) yet delicious options on the menu. They had complimentary hot tea in the lobby. After practicing through her songs, we got a good night’s sleep.
Next morning was the big day. This was her first college audition so we didn’t know what to expect other that what we had read on this wonderful forum. At CCM they did not have any introductory programs before the auditions started, so we just arrived about 9:30 for her 11 time slot. It was very well organized although many areas were auditioning at the same time(voice, dance, instruments, musical theater). Practice rooms were available for warming up, and there was a hospitality room with coffee and comfortable seating. There were signs directing us to all the rooms we needed to find. Everyone was very welcoming and pleasant. After she warmed up we went over to the audition room which was a lovely recital hall. The parents waited outside of the entrance doors while the auditioners went to the backstage area. The panel hearing the auditions consisted of all of the voice faculty. She said they were friendly and smiling and attentive while she sang. The accompanist was very easy to work with, although she did not go over tempo before they started. D came away feeling that it went well. After that we grabbed a bite at the Starbucks in the building because it was again frigid outside and D did not want to venture out. Other options were available within walking distance. We took a tour of the music buildings (wow) and the faculty met with the students for a q&a session after all the singing was finished. Again, they were very friendly and open. At 3, she took her Music Theory exam while I attended a parent session on housing and financial matters. All in all a very pleasant experience for the first audition. I hope they all go this smoothly.
I also auditioned at CCM 
It was freezing, but all of the places we needed to be were in one building except for the faculty q&a, which was only a few steps away. The audition went very well, and the panel was very attentive and smiling and the accompanist was wonderful in terms of adjusting tempos. Afterwards, we were able to grab some oatmeal for lunch at the Starbucks. The faculty was very welcoming and open to all questions at the q&a session and gave off a very friendly vibe. The practice rooms were beautiful; the rooms had windows and (tuned!!) Steinways. All of the other auditionees were very welcoming, and the overall feeling of the conservatory was that they have a strong commitment to their singers and they have a healthy amount of competition without being arrogant or cutthroat.
Overall, a lovely audition day
S auditioned in mid-December at Ithaca College. We live across the country and flew into Rochester the Thursday prior to the audition as we were travelling with the string bass. We spent the night by the Rochester airport and then on Friday took a beautiful and relaxed drive down to Ithaca. It had snowed that Tuesday and Wednesday but the highways were well plowed and in great shape the whole way to Ithaca. We checked into our hotel and then we dropped S off at the music school so he could practice in a practice room there. It was easy. He just went to the Whalen Center and found an empty practice room and practiced. We then putzed around Ithaca, which is just a neat town.
S had a good night’s rest and then went to the school around 9:00 AM on Saturday. We did not go with him as he wanted to do the audition day on his own. So this is all hearsay…All of the kids auditioning assembled and were greeted by the Deans of the school and the music school. Then two of the Ithaca ensembles performed, which were really great according to my S. He was extremely impressed with the quality of the performances. After that, each group met by instrument with the professor(s) of that instrument. S was the first to audition for the bass. It was just him and the Bass Professor. S said it was fun and relaxed. After that, he was scheduled to do his sight singing exam with a different professor. Overall, S said that everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming. It was a terrific experience for him. He felt that it is a quality program with high musical standards with a friendly environment and that all came through during the audition day.
S auditioned for BU’s piano department – a regional audition. He played all four pieces – around two to four minutes of per piece, no repeats. No interview questions or sight-reading.
S auditioned for classical piano at Oberlin – regional audition. Boy, are they warm and fuzzy. They were running late, which is apparently common. He played all of his pieces, two minutes per piece – even his Etude, which was 2:06 seconds (but they cut him off promptly at 2 minutes), which was a bummer. For the Bach, they skipped the Prelude and went directly to the Fugue. They did not allow him to choose the order, aside from the first piece.
Sight-reading was minimal, and fairly easy. There was some ear training as well. And a bit of transposition. That was it!
We got a lovely thank you note afterwards (in fact, every student does).
My son auditioned at Berklee in November. He wants to major in composition and piano is his primary instrument. He and my husband flew into Boston the day before, they spent that day touring Boston Conservatory and meeting with a faculty member there. They stayed at a nearby hotel (the Midway Hotel) and walked to Berklee in the morning (he made sure he brought warm gloves, as a pianist, he didn’t want his hands to get to cold before the audition.) When they got there, he signed in at the desk. The have screens in the waiting area, names come up on screen with a chair number, you go sit in numbered chair. A student then brought him upstairs to practice room, and gave him the sight reading music. He had 15 minutes to warm up and look it over. Sight reading consisted of 5 or so short examples (8-16 measures), written in standard notation, chords with slash notation, and lead sheet notation. When his time was up, he was brought to audition room, where he waited outside until the previous person was done.
There were 2 evaluators in the audition room, one taking notes on computer and the other is the one who did the talking. They talked to him very briefly and he played his prepared piece. He also had a second short self-composed piece prepared, but they skipped that and asked him to do some improve. One of the evaluators played guitar and he improved along with him. They had him played a little of the harder sight reading exercises, which he said were very easy (they even told him they should be a piece of cake for him based on the piece he played). They did some ear training exercises with him where he was asked to match or name notes, and that was it.
A student brought him to the waiting area for the interview, he signed in again at a desk, and was sent to a numbered chair. An interviewer came out and brought him to an office. The interview covered things like why he was interested in going there, what his background was, and what his school program was like. She also made note that he was a vocalist as well as a pianist.
They had a tour available in the afternoon for anyone interested, but my son and husband had done that before so enjoyed an afternoon in Boston before flying home that evening. Overall, he said it was very relaxed and actually pretty fun. He was not expecting to hear anything until Jan. 31st when early admission decisions are supposed to be emailed out, so was very surprised to get an email acceptance just three weeks later. An email with a merit scholarship offer arrived the same day. Two days later, he got the acceptance package in the mail which also contained the offer of an additional grant. Since it was his first choice, he has already sent in his enrollment deposit and canceled his other auditions, so we won’t have anything else to compare this experience with, but it was a very positive experience for him.
Congrats to your son, SongandDanceMom. And congrats to you, on not having to endure an entire audition season.
UW Madison: I auditioned in November for the MM piano graduate program. It was mostly an undergraduate audition day, so lots of parents around, etc. I was there by myself. The music building is confusing, so it was hard to tell which side to go in on. I knew the practice rooms were in the basement, but they didn’t have any signs really upstairs directly people where to go. They had a few wings of practice rooms blocked off for auditioning students, so they did have signs on that part of the building. Apparently there was a check in desk by the recital hall/lobby upstairs, but that wasn’t in the email and there weren’t signs, so I just went to a practice room and showed up at my audition up by the recital hall when it was time. So slightly confusing/not so organized for that… Audition went fine- all the piano faculty were present, except 1 that was out of town that weekend. It was 20 minutes, and they were running a few minutes late. They let me pick the first piece (Beethoven 1st mvt) and cut it off at the development section, then they picked my Chopin Berceuse & 1 mvt of my Bach partita, played all through of those pieces, and that was it and then they asked me a few questions. I don’t know if there were building tours- I had visited previously for a lesson, so I did that then. I heard from them less than 2 weeks later that I am accepted, but won’t hear about financial info until way later! I drove up there the night before from Illinois…all the parking there is in various garages underneath other academic buildings. There’s one pretty close to the music building. I stayed at the Sleep Inn (Tradewinds Parkway), which was nice and a pretty good price, new place, but slightly out of the way from the freeway and hidden.
University of NC- Greensboro: I auditioned in December. Again, mostly an undergraduate audition day like at Madison. I flew into the tiny Greensboro airport the night before, from Bloomington, IL through Detroit. It’s an expensive airport to fly into, but close to the school. Further away ones would be cheaper, but then you need a bus/train/car or something. They didn’t tell me my exact audition time until the Monday before, and then changed it to an hour earlier in the morning the day before! So I was worried about my flight being delayed, etc. and not getting sleep, but it was ok. I stayed at the Sleep Inn Airport hotel, which will pick up/drop off free at the airport/hotel. I would not recommend this hotel right now- they’re doing renovations, and depending where your room is, you might have to hear a lot of that, which I did. They also weren’t very organized at the hotel and my room was missing a few complimentary hotel items that I had to ask the front desk for. I took a taxi to the school/music building. They had very clear signs posted where to go to check in, warm up, etc. The practice rooms weren’t reserved for auditioning students, but there seemed to be enough available, maybe since most students don’t want to practice early on a Saturday morning! There’s a parking ramp right next to the music building if you do drive. My audition was in the recital hall, which had all the piano faculty members present. My audition lasted close to 30 minutes long, probably because it wasn’t a busy audition weekend. I’d suspect it’s different for later audition days. I was 1 of 2 graduate pianists auditioning that day. They let me pick which piece to start (Beethoven- 1st movement), which they surprisingly let me play all the way through, 10 minutes, very odd I thought. Then they picked my Chopin impromptu #2, played the whole thing (6 minutes), and told me to choose one of the etudes I had, and then they chose one movement of the Bach (picked the same movement as Madison did- the Corrente!). Then they wanted to chat for probably 7-8 minutes. They had building tours, and campus tours too. I just did the building tour, led by a couple undergrad students- it’s a nice, new building. I got my acceptance to the program 6 days later, so very quick on the results of it. Have to wait yet for financial info.
3 more auditions to go!
Congratulations Bluemeringue! It sounds like all went well at Oberlin. I hope it gave your son a boost to have a good audition.
iluvpiano, it’s great to hear about your experiences auditioning for your master’s degree. I have been following over the years because my piano-playing D is just a couple of years behind you. Congratulations on your successes so far!
Hey @bigbro96, we won’t know until the results are in. But it was a pleasant audition. They go out of their way to be human and decent. When is your Oberlin audition? Did you decide to do it regionally?
I just sent you a direct message - hope it arrived!
Yes, I already responded!
My S just finished his regional audition for Oberlin. He plays jazz piano and the audition consisted of him playing and improvising on four songs accompanied by a pre-recorded tracks provided by Oberlin. These were the same songs he sent in for his pre-screen. They did not ask him to sight read, maybe since he is jazz studies, because I did hear other classical musicians say they had to sight read. They asked him several questions; if he had visited Oberlin, what he thought about it, did he know the jazz piano professor, what other schools he was auditioning for etc. After the audition they suggested emailing the professor the student would study with just to touch base. The organizer, Josh, was very friendly and low-key about everything. He said they would mail out decisions by end of March. I took that to mean “snail mail,” not email. Fingers crossed for a fat envelope 
Best of luck to everyone during this audition season!
My D had two auditions for VP-UG this weekend.
On Saturday we were at Syracuse University-Setnor School of Music. We stayed at a lovely Hampton Inn not far from the campus. Weather was frigid-it was 4 when we left the hotel. Parking was confusing but we ended up right by the music building. The day was well organized. There was a welcome address and then break out sessions for each area. Tours were given for the music facilities. Refreshments were provided. You found out your audition time at registration. She was next to last. Current students were around for questions and also to escort auditioning students to the warm-up and audition rooms. They had two rooms for VP-three faculty in each. She had to prepare 4 songs but only sang 2. She got to pick the first and they picked the second. After she sang they did some sight singing. The panel in her room was very friendly and gave her positive feedback. All the students took a music theory exam. Instrumentalists had an aural exam as well.
On Monday we were at Temple - Boyer College of Music and Dance. No info sessions or tours, just the audition. No food provided at this one but we were in and out pretty quickly. Again, well organized. They had two rooms for VP, with two faculty in each. She had to sing two songs-one her choice, one theirs. And then the dreaded sight singing but no theory test this time. Current students were available for questions as they were shuttling the prospective students from warm up rooms to the audition rooms. We had attended an open house already so were familiar with the programs and facilities. We were in and out in about 1 1/2 hours.
This weekend we are off to Northwestern.
I had my S start a notebook after his first audition at IU (which went well, more later). Each school has a page which is organized like this: impressions of professor, what he learned at his sample lesson, pros and cons of the school. He is keeping the brochures and info handed out by each school in the notebook as well. We are hoping that this will help him over the next month as he visits schools because I am sure the memories, although fresh now, might get muddled. Thought this suggestion might help someone.
Just did my UM frost audition today, and it was a very nice experience. Check in was at 8:00-9:00 and right after (10:00) was a tour of the campus. At 11:00 all the prospective music majors had a mandatory meeting in the main hall (Gusman) and heard the director of both academic and music admissions, as well as from a student, and a former student. They spoke about the school and the program, asked if we had any questions, and altogether answered every question as best they could with sincerity and a smile. I’m a VP major, UG, so my auditions went like this: Aural Skills- 12:24, Voice audition- 1:03, Theory Assessment- 2:00. My voice audition ran 15 minutes late, which wasn’t too bad because I got to warm up, because I had run from Aural Skills to Voice… I’m sure they did it on purpose because of that same reason.
The rest of the day we spoke with faculty and staff in the music department of our major of choice, and got to ask lots of nice questions.
As for my Aural Skills (basically sight reading, pitch, etc.) the sight singing was easy, only one line with one flat, which I found very relaxing. Then they had me sing pitches on beat and in tune.
As for my voice audition, there were 4 judges present, and 2 watching me through Skype. One judge was the head of the voice department, the other was the choir director, another the French and German diction teacher, and the fourth was part of admissions. Two people on skype were there as well, one from Arizona and one in Switzerland as what is suppose “guest judges” so they could get an unbiased opinion. After I sang both my pieces they congratulated me, asked me a few generic questions (who is your voice coach, how many years have you sung, why do you like singing, what instruments to you play, etc.) and then asked if I had any questions. They happily answered any questions I had with a smile, and altogether seemed thoroughly impressed with my audition, something I sincerely wasn’t expecting after hearing all of the horror stories people have for faculty at schools.
As for my Theory Assessment, it wasn’t easy, they asked me to name notes and compound meters and make simple, and compound meters, and a few things I honestly had never heard of. Luckily they said the theory doesn’t count, it just is for placement once you get into the school. I’m a voice major though, so it’s probably easier for instrumentalists because they’re more used to it than vocalists most likely are.
That’s basically the gist of it. Beautiful campus, nice dining facilities, lots of food options, very kind people who are always willing to help you out. My only problems the entire day I’d say we’re the dorms, which were small and dirty, and the sorority/fraternity scene at the school, which I personally don’t like because it’s immature and shows what kind of character these people really have, but then again…that’s my opinion!
Much better than I expected, and I highly recommend. I live here in Miami, but the airport is very nearby, and you can get there by bus if you needed to. Nice weather (obviously) at around 75° F, which is actually slightly chilly for Miami!
Overall, I loved it! ;
Regarding the schools that integrate a tour into audition day - does your instrument take the tour too? In other words, does the school provide secure storage?
My S (cello) has had three auditions so far at IU, ASU and FSU. The one at IU was our first and was very casual. We checked in and received a folder of information. We then attended an information session but had to leave early because my S had scheduled a lesson with a professor. When we went to that, the professor stepped out of his studio at the scheduled time, shook my hand, and had my S enter. My initial impression was not one of warmth. I was expecting at least a “Hello”. It was all very business like. My S told me that the professor indicated that he start playing so he went ahead and played his concerto. The professor gave him some good advice on a particular fast passage. My S was definitely shell shocked by the experience because it wasn’t at all what he was used to or what he was expecting. We went back to the hotel and he fixed the passage that they worked on at the lesson. We then went back for the audition (3 hours later). The Green Room that was designated to be an unpack and warm up room was locked and there was no one to ask for help. We found a spot so my son could warm up and waited for the audition. Finally, a student showed up to check auditioning students in and I told her the Green Room was locked. She talked to the professor and let him know and they searched around for another Green Room. It felt very disorganized. My S had his audition, which lasted for 7 minutes. He played for another cello professor and a violin professor. The audition was recorded because one of the cello professors was out of town. Later that afternoon, we had my son’s friend (a junior at IU) show us around the music school. The facilities are very nice, and the studio building where lessons are held is only a couple of years old. The biggest drawback is that there aren’t practice rooms or lockers in the studio building. There are two practice buildings but both are fairly old. We took a walking tour of the campus, which is beautiful but very spread out. My S and I came away from the experience feeling ambivalent. The school didn’t seem to really try to sell itself, but my S thinks it would be good to study there because of the reputation. He just had his third audition at FSU and had a completely opposite experience. More about that later.