<p>thelovelybones, chiming in with what violindad said about violin auditions. My daughter did 8 auditions last year and for the most part, they were pretty formal, even when she knew the panel. In part (I think) it’s because there are so many auditions that the panel just has to keep moving. </p>
<p>In response to your comment about losing the competition–my daughter was told by a teacher at one of the top conservatories that the panel cannot agree on issues of musicality and taste, so they generally pick candidates based on what they can agree on: technical precision. Obviously this is not true of every panel in every school, but there is some truth to the observation that musicality is often less valued than technical precision in an audition situation. As for the rest of life, that’s a different story.</p>