teachermom

Hi, My son has a couple of auditions scheduled for the next few weeks. Does he need to provide his evaluators with the music he tends to audition with?

violadad

teachermom, most schools require music for the adjudicators, and the accompianist. The specific format, number of copies, etc, are normally found on the schools audition info/requirements webpages, or in the paperwork confirming audition date and time.

If you can't locate the info, do not hesitate to call or email the music admissions department(s).

Good luck to your son.

thumper1

My son always made copies of the music for the adjudicators. He had the original with him as well...and the piano part (which wasn't used as he played unaccompanied). He offered the music to the folks. Some took it and others didn't. For some of his auditions, he had to send the copies in advance. In ALL cases he was required to have the original copy with him.

BassDad

It varies from school to school and instrument to instrument. For example, my daughter did not have to provide any copies of the music she played at any of her auditions. All of them were unaccompanied and the solo material in the double bass world is somewhat limited, so the teachers already knew the commonly used audition pieces and orchestral excerpts forwards and backwards.

If you can't find the information on the web site, definitely give them a call. If you are going to hand out photocopies, make sure that you have the original with you.

musicianmom

Interesting responses! In our violin experience, providing music to adjudicators was limited to competitions - often 2 or 3 copies, original, no copies. (My observation when competitions were open to the public was that these scores were rarely referred to - only in cases where one of the judges was a non-string player.)

Auditions for the violin faculties at the conservatories where S auditioned did not require copies of music. S did need to provide music for pianist for accompanied auditions. Some schools indicated that if the music was not well known, the pianist should be offered a copy in advance of the audition day. S normally carries his music in his case; if anyone had wanted it, it was there, but it was never necessary.

Goes to show the differences between schools and instruments! I agree that you shouldn't hesitate to ask. We found the several Admissions Departments that I conatced quite helpful throughout the process.

shennie

My son auditioned on cello at both the undergrad and grad level. He never had to give copies of his music to the panels, only for his accompanist. And he only needed a pianist for a couple of grad school auditions, not at the undergrad auditions.

musmom2

My daughter has had 2 vocal auditions the last 2 weekends. In neither case did the panel request a copy of the music, although she had brought extra (photo) copies just in case, as well as the originals in the books. She made a binder for the (provided) accompanists-who were both excellent- with copies of her 4 songs. She does have one audition coming up where we had to send in copies of the music ahead of time, but they said "bring the originals and we will destroy the copies the day of the audition"- which seems a little weird to me. Guess it varies from place to place, you just have to follow the directions they give you and be prepared for contingencies!

binx

Here's a just-in-case tip: When my oldest S was playing for a piano competition once, we got there and discovered he'd grabbed the wrong piece of music. It wasn't for him, of course, but for the judges. The competition was held at a university, so we hightailed it to the school's music library, and they allowed us to borrow the music. Apparently they were used to things like that, because they had a procedure all in place. And told us to number the measures lightly in pencil, and erase them before we returned the music.

I don't recommend adding that sort of stress to your auditions, of course, but if it happens, there's a possible solution!

barbmaz

It does depend on the school. All of the schools that needed pre-screen recordings had to have the music sent to them 10 days before audition. D had a few other schools that only required they bring music with them. I will say, the schools that received music ahead of time, had much better accompanists for obvious reasons. Even if she sent copies ahead of time, you are required to bring the original music with you to the audition.

lorelei2702

We saw accompanists for NYC conservatory undergrad auditions, and only Juilliard required copies to be pre-sent (directly to accompanist who was chosen and contacted from list). Rehearsal time required an extra payment. This was a few years ago, for a string instrument, and things might be different now.

Experienced voice teachers know the repertory, and there is seldom a need to look at the music. Occasionally they will not remember what the range is on an aria (which they will ask each other), or they will inquire what key or edition (Baroque usually) was used for an art song.

mercymom

musmom2 -

This might explain the "destroy the copies" lanquage you saw at one of your schools. Some of my S's songs for his voice auditions are actually copies his voice teacher made for him. S does not actually have "originals" to either bring or give to an accompanist or judge. When I called one of the schools that requires music sent ahead of time (one of his schools doesn't require that), they said they have to put that "original music" stuff on their web site or letters, etc. to be square with the copyright laws. It is to make sure that somebody in the process has actually purchased the music that is being used. They said if S didn't have true originals it was ok.

[note: S does have several song collection books, and some of his pieces are in books and we made copies from the books. Others were copies from the teacher's books.]

jazzzmomm

Any opinions on how crucial it is to be perfect in sight reading? For jazz.

violadad

Linking to thread here concerning audition scheduling insights Conflicting audition schedules.

violadad

The August '08 edition of the American String Teacher journal has an excellent article (Mastering the Unknown: Guildelines for Succesful Orchestra Auditions).

I do believe you need to hold membership in ASTA to access articles off their website, but ask your orchestra director, private string teacher, or youth orchestra personnel if they can copy the article for you.

Info is pertinent to all levels of auditioning.