Tell Us About Audition Day 2015

College Majors Music Major
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I feel like not many people applied to Rice and UM frost? Am I the only one…? Very confused :frowning: either way, here’s the lowdown on Rice University Shepherd (voice):

Very nice breezy Friday morning, very punctual. As a voice student, the practice rooms have terrible acoustics, so I kept hearing a funky noise in my voice but it was just the room. I recommend practicing in the church there, or really anywhere else. Believe me, it makes your voice sound like death.
10:50 audition time, but told me to be there 10 minutes early, so I auditioned around 10:43 (???). The collaborative artist (aka, accompanist for those unfamiliar with the term) was good, but don’t be caught off guard with the embellishments he makes on the piano. Also, make sure to tell him your tempo, because on one of my pieces I told him the overall tempo, but halfway through it gets quicker and he didn’t do it, which made the song quite boring really. Very passive judges, but they weren’t rude or anything. They just didn’t ask any questions whatsoever, seemed slightly disinterested, but either way, that might be the protocol. Just be careful, because the boy before me was asked a question, and I feel really bad for him because he answered incorrectly. They asked if he played any instruments and he said he did some Jazz piano, so they told him to sit at the piano and he did, but he couldn’t play anything, since he had been focusing on his voice for the audition. Just take each question with caution in my opinion, if you get any that is.

There was no theory or aural skills exam for undergrads, but grads did have them. My audition was extremely short, about 5 minutes. Afterwards I was invited to attend each of the 3 voice teacher’s studio classes. We were allowed to skip around classes, but (in my opinion) if your more inclined towards opera, choose Stephen King, choral singing, Barbara Paver, and if you’re in the middle choose Julie Simpson. That’s what it seemed like to me, at least.
This audition was on Friday and I am still in Houston, because I’ve been trying out all the classes there are to offer. German, French, Italian, theory, and opera workshop. It’s crucial because it leaves an impression on the faculty that you’re interested in the program in my opinion. That’s what I’d do if you’re auditioning there one of the next two weekends.

The only other thing I’m going to warn about is the smallness of the program, which is something I find great, but others may be wary of. Rice Shepherd has 10 total undergrads, and accept about 3 a year. I just found this out, and originally thought they accepted 25, or 10, but now it’s only THREE. Once they even accepted none, but that’s rare. Just know it’s very selective, and that’s why they offer basically everyone a full scholarship to study there.

I’ll write more if I think of anything else, but really? Nobody on here is auditioning or has auditioned for Rice??? Or UM frost??? :frowning:

UPDATE: forgot to add, if you email Paver, she’ll schedule a lesson, but the other two will only let you sit in on someone else’s class.

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@bassnma684- for deleting duplicate posts, flag what you want to remove and make your note when the box pops up, asking the moderator to remove what you want taken off. You can delete it yourself IF you get it within the 15 minute window for editing.
Note to parents: Always look at the audition time/information just as soon as it shows up via email/snail mail. If you need to ask for changes, do so immediately, be polite when you state your reason and don’t expect miracles. It’s not always possible to shift things, although most schools will try given a good reason (not just because your kid isn’t a “morning person”!).

I usually mention this earlier but I forgot this year. Parents, find a place to sit, away from the audition room. Trust me on this, you do NOT need to be up there, out there, near there, you really don’t. You don’t want to be the parent making the snarky comment about another kid’s performance, or, heaven forbid, the one who is listening so intently, ear pressed against the door, that you don’t hear that an adjudicator has approached and has turned the knob…and yes, you’ve fallen into the room, embarrassing yourself and your poor offspring who is claiming never to have seen you before!
At some schools, you don’t have the option of leaving the first floor lounge area. There are monitors who are handling everything, making sure that the right kids are outside of each room, and it can get pretty busy with all of the coming and going.Bring a book, take up a new hobby, just give your kid that 15 minutes to themselves. They’ll thank you for it!

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OperaAdri, thanks for your account of Shepherd. When do you go to Frost? My DD is interested in both. Thanks!

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@greatchoir‌ UM frost already happened, if you’d like to know how that went, I’m quite sure I wrote about it a week or two ago in this same thread :slight_smile:

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OperaAdri My son’s a jazz guitarist but we go to Frost this week. Thanks for your account!

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@OperaAdri, thanks for your comments on Shepherd. Very informative. My D applied there but did not get an audition. We visited in October and found Dr. King very helpful. The campus, as you well know, is stunning, and the residential college system creates a very close-knit community. It is modeled on the English university house system. Everyone I’ve ever known who went to Rice loved the experience. Houston is a great city with a dynamic and well-funded arts scene.

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@drummergirl‌ no problem! Glad to help! :slight_smile:
@FriscoFred‌ you’re welcome! :slight_smile: Dr. King and I haven’t spoken yet, but tomorrow is my last day here, so I will be sitting in on one of his private lessons. I’ll be sure to comment an update on how that goes as well if you like :slight_smile:

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Just wondering had anybody heard their results from Indiana University yet?

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I’d play it by ear whether to stand near audition room or not. I was chatting with another parent close by and even talked to the faculty after my son did his audition. It was pretty low key. I wasn’t even hovering. It just happened to work out for me to be close by. His first audition I wasn’t even in the building. I did stay close because my son was having bow issues and I wanted to be nearby in case I needed to help. It was fine and no one seemed to mind I was nearby. The only reason I happened to be closer than I wanted was because I was chatting with a parent.

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So far my son has had 3 Vocal auditions.

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

As I posted on another thread my son got pretty sick several days before this audition. Found out he has mono.
Audition day was cold and rainy (yeah I know the East Coasters are rolling their eyes right now) But it was in the 60s!!! I have thin blood!! And of course we are spoiled in CA.

Several students were available for check in and to answer any questions from students or parents. He was escorted to a warm up room and told to come out when he was ready. It didn’t look like they were strict with audition times, just time frames. The accompanist met him outside the audition room, looked over his music, asked about tempo and took him into the room. After he sang his 2 songs, they tested his sight singing, aural skills and asked him a few questions and that was it.

Parents were just hanging around standing or looking for the few chairs available.

He had previously toured the school and in November shadowed a student all day so he was familiar with the campus. Unfortunately, he was never able to schedule a lesson with one of the professors.

He’s not feeling good about this one. I heard him sing and he sang well. He just didn’t have the usual energy.

USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC

My son decided to arrive early to take the Theory test before his audition. The theory test took about 30 min. Check in was 1 hour before audition. Warm up rooms were available 20-60 minutes before audition. We had requested a Thornton provided accompanist (who was awesome) she met my son in the warm up room and worked with him for about 20 minutes. She then escorted him to the audition building.

There was a mix and mingle lunch event with outside lunch options. It was a beautiful and sunny day. My son met and talked with other vocalists and musicians.
Plenty of seating areas for anxiously waiting parents.

My son had already toured the campus and had sample lessons with 4 professors @ USC and felt very comfortable auditioning for familiar and friendly faces.

Overall great experience.

USC offered complimentary tickets to the Walt Disney Music Hall to see a performance of a faculty violinist the weekend of audition.

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY

Check in was 30 minutes before audition. He was escorted to a warm up room and then came out when it was his audition time. They provided an amazing accompanist. He sang 2 songs, answered a few questions and asked a few questions.

You could stay and have lunch with the faculty. I thought this was pretty awesome. Parents were welcome but I decided to let him have his own time and he did just that. He also met current students who were very engaging and informative.

I bought a salad from the cafeteria and sat in the 80 degrees sun with a beautiful view of the ocean. (Sorry to rub it in East Coasters)

After lunch he was scheduled to take the theory test which took about 30 minutes. He has not had a lot of theory so he thought it was hard.

My son had previously toured the campus, took a Masterclass and had sample lessons with 2 professors so he is very familiar with the campus.

He LOVES the campus (who wouldn’t…it’s MALIBU!!!) He felt the love this day from the faculty and the school environment. Great experience!

CSUN California State University Northridge

Check in was 30 minutes before audition. Warm up rooms were available first come first served.
He just had to be outside the audition room a few minutes before his audition. No theory test at this time. If accepted theory tests would be scheduled in May.
He sang and talked to faculty for a while and had a very positive experience.
CSUN has a new performing arts building which is gorgeous. VPAC. Valley Performing Arts Center

He has visited the campus and had a sample lesson with one of the professors.
Overall a very positive experience.

So far that’s it. He has several more auditions in the next couple weeks.

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Oops! Seem I can’t count. He has had 4 Vocal auditions.

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@OperaAdri‌ Im auditiong at Frost (UM) this weekend, as a grad VP, I’d be interested to hear how your audition went.

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If you are waiting on McGill - log in and check your Minerva account. Turns out they had posted a decision for my daughter on January 23rd. We kept looking for an email, like every other school. The Canadians just like to do things differently I suppose.

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@paintbrush22‌ I posted how my audition went earlier in this same thread if you’re interested. I think you’ll find overall the judges to be very enthusiastic and kind :slight_smile: that’s just my overall statement, but I have the entire experience posted here (Page 2 #17 if you want specifics?). Toi Toi Toi this weekend! :wink:

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OperaAdri, My S auditioned for cello at Shepherd on Monday, Feb. 2. Only 5 UG cellists auditioned. Very small program but he loved it. First choice so far.

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@OperaAdri‌ thank you!!!

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Baldwin Wallace

Long but good day.
Check in was organized; an attractive table w/continental breakfast available. Each student got a labeled folder with their schedule for audition, theory test, piano test, interview and school info. Started with parents and students gathered in recital hall and several faculty spoke. All had wise and encouraging advice for parents and students.

Students went off for their auditions, tests, and interviews and parents went to their own info session, in chilly activity center. Q & A session with current students, financial aid, etc. was well done. Lunch was provided for parents, but we went out to lunch off campus w D and her friend who was also auditioning, and her mom.

Music therapy interview was at 4, so some long waits in afternoon, but lots of music students around offering assistance, willing to answer questions. All the students we spoke with were very positive about their experiences w BW. Storage room available for instruments. Could have taken campus tour but it was very cold, so decided to wait for another day since campus is less than an hour from home. D liked everything about experience and felt audition went well, heard by director of bands, and bassoon professor, who gave positive feedback. D did not express much about theory and piano tests, but was not expecting to place out of intro classes anyway, since it has been a while since she took piano lessons, and felt these do not impact admission decisions. One of the students we talked with said the piano classes do a good job of teaching fundamentals in a way that’s useful for the way music therapist will need to play, which was reassuring.

I think D is hoping hard for a positive result, but facing a long wait since decisions are not mailed until March. BW Conservatory admissions went far beyond other schools at her first visit when she was just a junior and starting to look (extensive interview w/admissions director who offered excellent advice, and lunch with director of music therapy program who provided great info as well.) While cost to attend BW would be substantially higher than CSU (already accepted) even with merit award typically given, I can see the value difference. Hoping it is a choice she will get to make.

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@2015Lalo‌ I am glad you like it. If we’re both accepted maybe I’ll see him next year! :slight_smile:

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1/24 UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music

Loved this school! What a lovely, clean campus. The music buildings were huge and had plenty of nice practice rooms, and the performance halls were lovely. Checked in around 12, met with the accompanist and went over tempos, who was a wonderful pianist and coach (Kathryn Wright) and had the audition around 2pm.Undergrad auditions were in the morning, and graduate auditions were in the afternoon (Im graduate). It last about 35 minutes; I started with my aria, they immediately asked for the secco recitative, and four more pieces after that. (We had to have 7 total prepared). Then they interviewed me and asked quite a few questions. They were friendly and I really got the feeling that they wanted to get to know each and every applicant to make sure they made the best decisions they could. Athens is super cute and I had a great time with my companion trying as many places to eat and play downtown as we could that evening.

2/1 San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Who isn’t gonna love San Francisco? Very crowded, and people coughing and sneezing all over the street of course (any big city…) so make sure you cover your face the whole time if you’re a wind instrument/vocalist. But the city is lovely and the Conservatory is absolutely gorgeous and new. Seven floors of beauty, and a killer performance space that will knock your socks off. Again, plenty of practice rooms and very organized. Each student was assigned a practice room for 30 minutes before their audition, as well as a 10 minute “rehearsal” if you will to go over tempos with the accompanist, who again, was phenomenal (I believe his name was Steve). I believe there were about 10 people in the audition room so it was a bit overwhelming for me at first, but then I realized I liked it better because you can’t even see their eyes at that point. The lovely, sweet Cathy Cook ran the auditions and I may have gotten a heart patter when I first saw her come out of the room to get me because, well, it’s Cathy Cook. The audition lasted about 15 minutes; I sang my first piece (8 min aria) and then they asked for my second longest aria, so even though they only have 10 minute slots, I didn’t feel like they wanted to rush me out of there at all. Last they asked for my poem (other students said it’s to see if you’re hoarse afterwards to make sure your technique isnt blowing your voice, but I’m not so convinced that’s actually what its for, possibly because I had the misfortune of barely having a speaking voice PRIOR to the audition due to people coughing and sneezing all over me on the plane ride over to San Fran two days earlier. But I could sing fine, luckily, so Im honestly not sure what the purpose of the poem was if anything other than to see what text speaks to you (I chose a WB Yeats poem). But yeah, if you do often lose your normal speaking voice after you sing only 15 minutes, you may wanna work on some breathing to make sure you can speak afterwards :slight_smile:

Overall, other than sick people everywhere in the airport that don’t care about covering their mouths when they cough and sneeze (get used to it, I know) I had a wonderful experience and I would be thrilled to get accepted to either of the programs above.

UM Frost, FSU, CCPA Roosevelt, and Mannes are up next.

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@intune‌ hope your daughter got accepted to temple! I just got accepted to Boyer!!! I’m so excited. What’s her top pick? When I auditioned for temple, I auditioned on Martin Luther King day, it was a monday, and I had a Syracuse audition two days before on the Saturday. Same weekend too! Hope it all went well