<p>I know cartera said that audition trumps rep list/resume, but can it give you a leg up to have more musical experience than someone else (if that were not to affect the audition in the first place)?</p>
<p>Agreeing with Cartera about the rep list. Sure, it CAN look great to have a rep list full of pieces, but one is supposed to list the selections that have been studied and that the teacher and student feel were mastered to the point where they could be performed. Of course, there are other factors, such as a change of fach, which could now negate entire pieces, but the point is that, at some point, they were studied to a higher level (I know what I’m trying to say, but I’m not sure that it’s coming out correctly?!!).
As a side note (and please know that I am sure that no one on CC would attempt such a thing)- this past audition season, we saw a large number of young ladies who listed their voice type, for auditions, as “mezzo”, since they were aware that there are much larger numbers of “sopranos” out there. Then they present their rep list, which shows repertoire that would stamp the applicant as a lyric soprano! Now, this is a case where a change of fach might have presented itself, but listing one’s self as a mezzo-soprano and then auditioning with “Je veux vivre” isn’t smart (don’t jump on me here- I KNOW that Jennifer Larmore has recorded it, but she has a thing for performing pieces that are a real stretch for her voice…)!
I tossed that in because I think that, while it’s nice to have a good rep list, it won’t make or break you in the way that the audition can. Even if two singers were virtually equal in audition, I think that the committee would look to grades or test score, reccomendations and to that special “it” factor that a performer may have which sets him/her apart from others long before they’d rely on the rep list. One place where that list can be a factor is when faculty are selecting students for their studios. Conversely, students can also check the bios of teacher at the school’s to which they are applying and see which profs have sung the same rep/roles, which helps give the student a clue to which teacher might be a good “fit” for them.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in hearing from voice professors and auditioners if and how repertoire lists are used during the audition process if at all. My daughter used hers mostly during the process of arranging for practice lessons – to let faculty know something about her; where she was musically and the seriousness of her interest in studying music. I hadn’t viewed it as an audition tool. Maybe, like everything else, it’s different at different schools.</p>
<p>My son is an instrumental major. He had to prepare a repertoire list for two schools to which he applied. They specifically asked for this as part of his application. He did NOT take the repertoire list to auditions.</p>