Voice and Dance as a Freshman

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Greetings!</p>

<p>Not sure how many NU MT folks are around CC at present, but just in case…</p>

<p>DD will be a freshman in Theatre next year. We’ve heard she’ll be able to audition for “extra” vocal training. When and how does that happen? Should she come with material prepared? Since she’s been accepted ED, can she get a jump on securing the best Vocal Coaches? If so, who are the really great coaches for an MT mezzo-soprano?</p>

<p>She’s also hoping to enroll in dance classes as a freshman. Is that an option, and if so which classes should she try for?</p>

<p>She is VERY excited about being a Wildcat and will really appreciate any guidance anyone can offer.</p>

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<p>Many thanks to those helping with answers via PM! I’d love to hear more people’s insight into these questions, either privately or here.</p>

<p>She did already get offers from BFA programs (including great scholarships), and had planned to audition for another 10 schools if she hadn’t been accepted to NU, but the more I hear, the more excited I get for our daughter and the more I realize she definitely made the right choice!</p>

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<p>How wonderful to be all done before New Year’s! Congrats to all at your home! We still have a long and winding road…</p>

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<p>@classicalbk – thanks!! We still have to receive and review the FA packet, but assuming all is well it will be very nice to be done before the New Year AND with her first-choice outcome! </p>

<p>Though now DD feels like she has a ton of great audition material and no place to perform it! She did use some for last summer’s auditions at the National Thespian Festival in Nebraska, and some for another round of early local auditions, plus she’ll be able to use some at YoungArts in Miami next month, plus of course it all goes into the repertoire list. Maybe she’ll just have to go on a local professional theatre audition rampage to get maximum use out of it all (not to mention those great audition dresses we’d collected). :wink: </p>

<p>I have heard that the BFA audition trail makes for some awesome mother-daughter bonding, so you have that to look forward to while my DD is just antsy to get on with next year! Enjoy each moment, and we’ll all be rooting for the perfect outcome for you as well! ;-)</p>

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<p>She can use some of that great material at Straw Hat Auditions, NYC in Feb for summer theatre jobs! (assuming she’ll be 18 by the summer)</p>

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<p>Great suggestion, but Do I want her away this summer when she’s on the brink of leaving for college?</p>

<p>Does anyone know if the voice lesson audition for the “extra” freshman vocal training can be MT material, or are the applicants evaluated based on classical vocal auditions?</p>

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<p>I just realized that all of the responses to the questions in my OP came as PMs, so I’ll add a brief summary here for others, and folks in-the-know can correct me if I get it wrong.</p>

<p>My understanding is that there will be auditions in September or October for vocal coaching. At a small added cost, some kids are offered private coaches, while some are offered lessons with grad students. Others are put on waiting lists. There is also a group vocal class made available to some kids (by audition, or do you just enroll?). There are some amazing private coaches in Evanston that some kids opt to work with.</p>

<p>Freshman can and do sign up for dance classes, depending on what their schedules permit.</p>

<p>Did I get that right?</p>

<p>If anyone has more specifics on when vocal auditions happen, or what type of material is needed (MT and/or classical, 16 bar cuts or…) it would be much appreciated!</p>

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<p>MomCares–thanks so much for summarizing the PMs you got, as I was wondering about the exact same things. Hopefully, we will meet in September and our daughters can reconnect after MPulse.</p>

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<p>@lindsay claire-- looking forward to it!!</p>

<p>I sure hope your D hasn’t had senioritis as badly as mine has! I think she’s enjoying hearing about all her friend’s auditions, but I’m pretty sure she’s felt a little odd not being a part of it all.</p>

<p>I feel like there’s still a lot we don’t know about how NU’s program will work, but I guess the kids will sort it all out as they go along. </p>

<p>Exciting times ahead!!</p>

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<p>For what it’s worth, during Wildcat Welcome last week the Chair of the Communications Department (which houses the Theatre Program) mentioned that next year they will be hiring dedicated MT Voice teachers, so vocal training will be available “in house” versus through the Bienen School of Music. </p>

<p>Maybe folks can add more info about the current voice training process for freshman after the kids go through auditions next week.</p>

<p>I know that this week at least 5 student-directed a cappella groups are holding auditions, so that’s yet another aspect of Vocal Performance available at NU.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure they held dance placement auditions during Welcome week, and D was able to enroll in a dance class her first quarter, but that may have been a function of getting a fairly low registration lottery number. </p>

<p>If anyone knows more about any of this I’d be interested in learning more and if/when I hear more details from D I’ll add them here.</p>

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<p>I wrote this for a thread on the main MT Forum, but thought a copy might be helpful here as well.</p>

<p>Here’s my understanding of policies at Northwestern University. I hope others with experience at NU will chime in, as this is based on limited discussions with D, who has only been there a few weeks so far.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that NU is a BA/BS program in which many kids are double majoring, so individual course loads vary a lot.</p>

<p>There are auditions in September for Theatre students who would like vocal coaching (not all Theatre students are MTs). Some kids are offered free lessons with grad students, or at a small added cost (I think this year it’s $275) some kids are offered private coaches. Others are put on waiting lists.</p>

<p>There is also a special vocal class made available to a small group of freshman (this year I think it was 20). It is taught in groups of 4 (I think) by one of the Music School heads (I think), and from what I hear is primarily focusing on more legit work so far since his background is Opera.</p>

<p>At the end of freshman year, kids from both the Theatre and Vocal Performance departments may audition for a spot in the MT Certificate program. Accepted MT kids receive free private vocal coaching.</p>

<p>In addition to Voice lessons, a small group of kids (this year I think 18) are placed in an MT Workshop, where songs are performed for the group and worked on.</p>

<p>It’s worth mentioning that A Cappella groups are a big deal at NU, and it seems that some vocal coaching happens there as well.</p>

<p>There is also a free Vocal Health assessment for those who want it.</p>

<p>During Orientation the head of the Communications Department said that next year the Theatre Department is hiring dedicated MT voice teachers, so I don’t know how/if this will change the situation.</p>

<p>Freshman dance placement auditions also happen during the first week of classes. My impression is that there isn’t an orderly progression of classes offered, since course loads are so varied, so kids have to juggle schedules to get the dance classes they want. They are free to enroll in as many dance classes as they like (I’ve heard of kids doing as many as 3 classes per quarter, which is 6-9 classes per week).</p>

<p>There are also amazing private vocal coaches and dance classes in Evanston and Chicago that some kids opt to work with in addition to the NU courses.</p>

<p>As I say, I hope others can correct and/or add to this.</p>

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<p>Adding a bit more info… apparently the small freshman MT Voice groups (4-5 students per group) mentioned above also include 4 private sessions with a school of music professor per quarter.</p>

<p>It’s also worth adding that NU freshmen are just finishing up their 4th consecutive week of auditions (the latest round were for Winter shows). For kids who are interested in a cappella, straight plays, voice lessons, dance classes and musicals this has amounted to MANY hours of auditions – I’m estimating 40+ hours for some kids – on top of demanding course work. I suppose anyone who’s interested in doing theatre for a living might as well learn to love auditioning sooner rather than later, and every audition is a new learning experience, but it sounds like a lot of work to me. ;-D</p>

<p>If anyone knows more please correct me as I get sporadic info from D!</p>

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<p>MomCares, thanks for keeping us informed about Northwestern! We appreciate every bit of information you have to share.</p>

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<p>@mompop - So glad to hear that it’s helpful, as sometimes I’m afraid I’m talking to myself. :-D</p>

<p>I wish I had more complete information, but I’ve tried to minimize my questions to D as she settles in! I know there are others with far more NU MT experience – as I’ve periodically gotten really helpful pm’s from them – so I hope they feel free to chime in and correct me if I get things wrong or they have more info.</p>

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<p>@MomCares - I think that all of your posts are great. They are always thoughtful and full of interesting observations and useful information. Keep up the good work! I hope that your D is having a great time in purple - one of my friends is an alum and he is already working on my D to attend.</p>

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<p>@EmsDad - Thanks! I hope your D checks out NU as it seems to be a very special place. Plus Chicago, which I hadn’t visited as a tourist for many years, is an AWESOME city these days!!</p>

<p>I admit I was initially leery of a theatre program where kids didn’t audition to get in – but BOY do they make up for that in the first 4 weeks! ;-D </p>

<p>Although I haven’t probed D about the talent level of her classmates, I know a few of the kids from National competitions and programs D was involved with, and those kids hold their own against any MT kids I’ve seen. I also know that D hasn’t gotten every role or opportunity she’s set her sights on so far this year, which tells me there’s plenty of talent on campus to keep her on her toes. I also know that every one of these kids is as smart as a whip, so performing talent or not they each have a great chance of making their mark on the world of theatre in some capacity, and NU history suggests that they will.</p>

<p>I expect we’ll hear more about all of this during Family Weekend, but so far, so good.</p>

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<p>At least one alum from my D’s local theatre program attended Northwestern and she was an outstanding performer in HS, so we have the impression the talent level is very high. Besides, as they drill the kids at my daughter’s PA HS: “Talent only gets work when talent works hard,” and you probably don’t get into Northwestern without a great work ethic.</p>

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<p>I did get a chance to talk more with D about the talent level she’s seeing, and she very much echoed your brilliant quote. She says she’s having a lot of fun gradually identifying all of the amazing talents surrounding her in ALL of her classes.</p>

<p>NU just heard they have the second highest number of Fullbright scholars – ahead of Yale and Harvard and the highest yield of any school (only school with larger #, 1 more Fullbright, was a school 5X NU’s size) – so she feels every day how amazing the folks around her are.</p>

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<p>I just found out that two 2011 theatre grads from my d’s PA high school are at Northwestern, one them was honorable mention at Young Arts. It is a testament to NU to attract two top grads from her school’s theatre department, the class is small and most of the kids typically get many large scholarship offers from around the country. Last year’s theatre class (3 placed at Young Arts) went to places like Penn State, USC, Texas State, etc.</p>

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<p>Cool! </p>

<p>Three YoungArts Theatre Finalsists chose NU over BFA programs last year (including D) – and a fourth narrowly chose Yale over NU as she got more money there – so a high percentage of those talented kids opted for academic challenge along with MT training. D said even more would have applied but by the time they got to Miami it was too late. And out of 25 kids at MPulse last summer, at least 4 made NU their top choice (another who was younger is applying ED this year) and a 5th chose Yale.</p>

<p>I think the way D has come to think of the class at NU is that it’s probably very similar to the 3-4 top MT BFA programs talent-wise, with the difference being that along with the ~20 serious MT kids there are straight actors, directors, writers, dramaturgs, stage managers and technicians all included in the incoming class of ~100 kids, so it takes a few weeks after arriving to find “your people”.</p>