<p>At least with the pre screen you know you have a chance if you audition there and don’t have to waste a trip. Curtis (at least on violin) didn’t pre screen, you go there, they have a kind of cattle call audition, then they have callbacks which could be the next day or the day after (the first round was monday and tuesday when my S auditioned, the finals I think were Weds) so you could audition on Monday then have to wait around to here possibly…</p>
<p>Some schools do try to make the process as easy as possible, others don’t necessarily care, it is the nature of the beast.</p>
<p>I think this year Curtis actually sent the violins home and then called them back a week later. Rough if you flew in from the west cost–or a different country.</p>
<p>Wow. And rough if you have financial restrictions &/or other obligations that prevent you from staying for multiple days (or worse yet, returning the following week). You parents deserve medals! Not a process for the faint of heart!</p>
<p>My husband would revolt. It’s a good thing there’s only one school my son is applying to next year he can only reach by plane and it’s cheap. Thank god.</p>
<p>While I agree with the theoretical idea of feedback from auditions, I agree with others who have mentioned that the feedback would be unlikely to be either helpful or satisfying. If a student has a good teacher, they have probably heard whatever feedback that might be offered. Students who are spending large amounts travelling to auditions have probably received comments in the past couple of years from a wide variety of sources at summer programs, masterclasses, and sample lessons. A few sentences from the auditioning panel, no matter how wise, would not make audition expenses “good bang for the buck.” </p>
<p>We arranged sample lessons for three of the audition trips and, looking back, I think we should have tried to arrange more; if one is already spending large sums of money on the audition trip, an extra hundred or two for a lesson would not have added much expense and would have increased the benefit of the trip.</p>
<p>I believe that the primary benefits from auditions (and competitions) is a) the focused preparation that they require (my students work more and work with more intelligence and sensitivity when they have an impending performance); and b) the opportunity to perform for very discerning ears (any performance is an opportunity to share the gift and beauty of music, but even more so, when the recipients have such a huge capacity to receive it).</p>
<p>I have found that many people (including myself and occasionally my son) are often not ready to hear what they need to hear about their music. Often one’s ears/brain simply don’t hear what more discerning or less involved ears can hear. Recently I was somewhat offended when a student’s rather non-musical parent complained that one of my choir’s songs was boring; I happened to record that song at a rehearsal the following week and was dismayed and surprised to discover that the parent was absolutely correct. </p>
<p>As much as I like the idea of getting some written feedback from auditions, I think that schools probably know that its benefits would be outweighed by the problems it would probably cause. Criticism is most helpful when offered in the context of a long-term trusting relationship which allows for full explanation and exploration of alternative ways of making the music. Merely hearing that one’s intonation could be improved is rarely helpful no matter how true it is. </p>
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This is so insightful. We’ve missed you, @violindad.</p>
<p>Just to add on: my daughter receives back comments from her juries (copies of the juror notes) in college. The jury is the same assembly of characters who comprise the audition panel for her school. It’s always instructive and amusing to note how two jurors may arrive at the same score while making the opposite comments. #1: great intonation, needs more [musical expression] on the [blah blah] passage. #2 great [musical expression], but the [blah blah] passage was pitchy. </p>
<p>Great feedback, violindad. My D had no experience with competitions, summer camps or master classes. She had done one or two regional evaluations, but that was in middle school. She’s just someone who loves her craft. Her skills were solid enough to merit being selected for audition, but her lack of experience with multiple teachers/judges/panels probably put her at a disadvantage. It’s all good, though. She’s found the right ‘home’ for next year. </p>
<p>So far my son has gotten helpful feedback from his sample lessons. And while I agree it’s better to get from a trusted teacher, it’s very helpful to hear that you need to work on x and to finally understand you have to practice the not so fun stuff to get better. </p>
<p>Cellomom6: I concur with your son’s experience–I think sample lessons can be very beneficial. I probably overstated the “longterm” thing in my post–sorry and thanks for your balancing observations! Students can often establish a quick rapport with a respected teacher in a single lesson that does allow them to benefit from what is said (and so often what is said will reinforce what their own teacher has been saying). Most auditions are so impersonal that little rapport is established (and that is often deliberate in order to maintain the appearance of objectivity); without the rapport, we tend to hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest. </p>
<p>Rhodeislandgirl: Glad that your daughter has found the right home for next year–that is what ultimately matters. I do still wonder if auditions might be quite different in an ideal world. Maybe 6 of the 15 audition minutes could be spent with one or more of the panel working on a passage with the student. After all, much of what determines a student’s future success at a school is not how well they play now, but how capable they are of learning and how easily they can interact with instructors. Such interaction would give the panel more information about a student and also give the student some information about the school (and also provide some of the missing feedback we have been discussing). </p>
<p>Violindad, I agree about auditions needing some 1 on 1 or personal time. At 2 schools we were told a live audition was preferable to a recorded one so the faculty could meet her and see her personality (she had previous lessons at both schools) We thought maybe there would be an interview component. Nope. Not at either one. Just sing 2-3 songs and go. She got in both, but I’m not convinced we needed to travel. </p>
<p>It was several years ago for younger d but she was able to get very thoughtful and helpful feedback from her rejection a Peabody as well as learning that she was a notch below those accepted at CMU so even though a rejection the fact she placed as high as she did gave her some confidence. For awhile she thought of accepting CMU as a humanities major but she wouldn’t have received any merit money because not her original application and we had other options. As a humanities major she could re-audition and participate in ensembles, she would be eligible for private lessons at our expense, however she was limited in her ability to use practice rooms which seemed a bit arbitrary… Sunday evenings after 6 PM for example but not from 12 noon to 6 PM.</p>
<p>One of DD’s auditions actually did do some one on one and lesson type environment. They had a much more casual audition environment. They were a major music school., too. But that was unusual. </p>