@BearHouse “…although I was starting to develop FOMOOF (Fear of missing out on Frost) while reading this thread.” =)) Totally! Reading through for future reference. Frost hasn’t been much on our radar or in our plans, but I’m beginning to feel that maybe it should be (even though it probably shouldn’t). Thanks for the laugh!
@SpartanDrew - “We are HOME SWEET HOME and it feels great. To me anyway. D is sad and loved the constant action, travel and excitement of auditions. High school can’t end quickly enough for her so she can get out there and start collaborating with some of these fabulous musicians she met on her travels.”
That is my daughter and me to a T! Lol. She started feeling this way about HS during her Sophomore year–which had me a little panicky. “Too soon for that!” I kept saying. “You have to finish strong!” (and by ‘finish’ I meant do 2 MORE YEARS!) But I guess some of it can feel a little tedious when you already feel like you know what you want, and just can’t wait to do it ALL THE TIME! 
Anyway, hoping we can hang in there like you and your D did. We still have a ways to go!
Need some advice for the coming year from you veteran parents RE trial lessons. Wondering about the best way to request them. Contact the professor directly? Call/email to Admissions? If you worked with a professor from a certain school at a summer program, would it be presumptuous to contact them for assistance? TIA!
My daughter contacted professors directly. She found them to be accessible and gracious, but it helps for your student to be very flex with his/her time so you can work into the prof’s schedule. She followed up with a thank you email referencing what they worked on, and she made sure that when she auditioned at a particular program that she had worked on what that prof had highlighted for her.
Yes, contact the professor directly. It is very common for voice professors receiving emails from applicants requesting trial lessons. I agree with @momzhood on teachers usually being cooperative and gracious. Some of them will request additional info from the prospective student like a resume, 30 second clip, present teacher before setting a schedule date. Some of them will charge a fee and some won’t. Usually they will let you know the amount before hand but always be prepared to pay for the class.
Agree but many professors are traveling or out of pocket this time of year. We also found music admissions helpful, especially if you are not sure of which professor to contact.
I meant all music instrument professors not just voice professors.
This would be a good separate question on a new thread, so that people can see the discussion on the specific topic of trial lessons, in the future. It may also get more responses from a variety of people.
For the entering freshmen, are you getting any info from the music department or studio teachers yet? S18 got a long letter a couple of days ago, explaining the audition process for the school operas and an outreach program. It was interesting because while it discouraged freshmen from actually performing in the operas in their first year (which we expected and agree with), it did seem to recommend auditioning even for freshmen by stating how important it is to audition so that they can see the talent they have available for now and for future productions. So the current plan is for S18 to audition but make it clear he is not concerned about any roles for this year but just wanted to introduce himself, let them hear and see him, and gain experience in the university audition process.
Oh getting the college audition material…how exciting!!
My D did not audition the first semester of Freshman year (for second semester roles as first semester roles had already been cast). It was not recommended. She was, however, encouraged to watch them (which was kind of shocking she said). She did audition the second semester for sophomore year and got a small role where dancing was needed (The Merry Widow).
BUT she did audition for Ensembles her first week of school and got opera chorus (instead of a choir) so she was very happy to get on stage in La Boheme her first semester. Just being on stage with the “big dogs” was exciting and a learning experience.
I was so naive about the whole process I did not know how it worked…with opera chorus being separate. So even without auditioning for or expecting roles…there may be opera chorus opportunities available (more so for males than females) at some schools.
Good luck to him!!
Thanks, @bridgenail ! Opera chorus appears to be included in the general initial audition, which is the single audition for the entire school year and even an opera FSU stages next summer! He has been placed in the Men’s Glee Chorus ensemble, which has a legendary director so that will be exciting. He can audition for another group, University Singers, sophomore year. Otherwise, he is going to spend freshman year learning and practicing. He will also likely try to do some musical theatre, either in school shows or student clubs.
@vistajay Sounds good! All schools do it differently. My D’s experience was you show-up…audition…and before you know it you are being plugged in appropriately and learning in leaps and bounds.
We just got back from UCI’s orientation program. My D registered for her courses and is fun to see it all come together. One class in musicianship, one class in theory, one vocal performance class/studio, intro to piano (to prepare for piano competency) and college writing. Studio placement occurs during their welcome week but her communication has been primarily with one professor. I think it is a done deal, so to speak. Choir auditions occur during that time as well.
This summer she is dedicated…dedicated to yoga. It’s important for singers to stay in shape and not be too tense! Or so she tells me.
How’s everyone doing out there? We have more or less finished dorm shopping. D had her wisdom teeth out on Monday and is absolutely miserable. We leave in a little over two weeks to drive out to NYC and move her in on the 19th. She found out a week or so ago that her roommate (she went in blind) is from Hong Kong and will be studying at Parsons School of Design so she is excited about that. Very cool and nice to have someone from a different program with her I think. New School housing has been a giant pain. We can’t get any dimensions or room measurements at all in advance or even names of suitemates. They all share a kitchen and a bathroom and it would be nice to know who is bringing the shower curtain, is someone bringing kitchen supplies, etc and will there be enough room for her keyboard in her room blah blah. Basically they told us to wait and buy stuff when we get there. UGH! Yeah because that’s SO EASY to do in Manhattan!!
Anyway I’m sure it will all work itself out. She is antsy to leave and we are antsy to have her leave lol. Teenage 18 year old attitude rearing up in a big way around here. I think these kids all of a sudden are feeling like full fledged adults going out on their own forgetting somehow that they are still on our payroll. This too shall pass…deep cleansing breaths! :-(((
Oh and to answer your question @vistajay, D has been getting regular emails from the CoPA and her advisor. She had to do a lot of online placement testing this summer and during orientation week will audition for studio/class/private teacher placement.
I think it’s wise to start off with too little for the dorm, and build from there. Not hard in NYC. Main thing is that sheets are long enough! Keyboard is an interesting question:it will go under the bed most likely so protect it from dust!
Dirtying the nest is common as is transferring attachment to friends and boy/girl friends. It’s hard to leave home and our culture makes it feel like falling off a cliff when really it can be a gentler slope over time.
keyboard won’t fit under the bed. The idea was to be able to raise the bed to bunk height to put the keys under but we found out after the fact that the beds in her dorm don’t bunk. Ugh. She wants to have them set up to be able to practice and use them in her room. As for leaving home, she is raring to go. No difficulty there for her. And given the latest attitude, not tough for us either. I was far more emotional about my son leaving for college and he is literally 5 miles away at our University here! I think it’s the mother/daughter thing in a big way…
@SpartanDrew I totally empathize with you on those summer months before freshman year. She’s probably a little anxious too. Btw there’s an enormous Bed Bath & Beyond (with West Elm nearby) just blocks from her school that I used when I moved my daughter to NYC. And a Container Store too which was great for closet storage. The dorms at New School look awesome!
Well Kerrey Hall, the new dorm, looks awesome! Haha! I’m not so sure about Stuyvesant Park where she will be. I just saw an article about a big problem with mice there!! AAACCCKKK! I know they will have a BBB pop up shop at the dorm on move in weekend for smaller things. I think we have all of the major essentials purchased. We have a Land Rover and it will be loaded up to the brim. I’d rather have more than what we need and return it when we get home versus trying to navigate parking and traffic etc to pick stuff up there. I found out via email yesterday that they can have BBB deliver stuff but only AFTER move in day and she will be jam packed with orientation activities and auditions all week so we want to have her 99% settled in before we leave first thing Monday morning.
I know I will breathe a sigh of relief when we get her settled in and onto her next phase in life. It’s been a crazy long journey!
Dorm room supplying is going VERY slowly. We have comforter, sheets and clothes. Pretty much a typical boy minimalist. He will bring his keyboard and put it under his bed. “Soiling” is manifesting itself in a refusal to cut his hair all summer (we plan on cutting it in his sleep before we head to FSU), and fighting with his mother over a perceived lack of preparation for a 9 song solo recital he gives in two weeks. We all head to L.A. soon to visit with my daughter and have one last family trip of the summer. We will see her act in a Shakespeare play, and we will go see a play about Beethoven at the Wallis Annenberg. Really looking forward to that!
We bought risers- is that what they are called?- blocks that went under the feet of the bed to raise it.
I guess some females are minimalists too 