jazzzmomm

Very happy to be going to the Hartt audition this weekend. Anyone with experience in jazz there?

violadad

Is Pete Woodard still jazz chair?

Not the jazz audition, but my son auditioned in February '02 as a viola performance/music ed double major.

In general, the audition was well run, no glitches, the students, staff and faculty helpful and welcoming. If you're driving, park in C or D lot, directly across from the Hartt building. Practice rooms are on the bottom floor, but given it's a w/e, there may be competition for rooms with community division lessons, but I don't recall there being an issue when s auditioned. (They may have a policy of cancelling community division lessons on audition days, I can't recall.)

S's audition was fairly early, 10:30 if I remember correctly, and he had his theory and aural skills test after the audition; as a music ed major, he also had a music ed interview. I don't recall an interview with performance faculty, although we were there till way after 6pm, when the viola instructor/string chair invited son to what turned out as a two hour lesson/jam session.

We killed time by wandering the halls, took a tour but fell out of it, and spent alot of time in the Fuller (Hartt building) reading bulletin boards, a great source of info, btw.

Take advantage of any performances or recitals scheduled and sit in. (It may be a bit early in the semester for any main performances).

Dress in layers, could well be cold and windy. It's by no means a huge campus, but big enough to be unpleasant walking during windy/cold conditions. The freshman dorms have been redone, and a new dorm opened this past September.

I'll answer any specific or local questions that you have if I can.

Good luck.

jazzzmomm

Thanks for the info! Pete Woodard is the jazz chair. Did you arrange for your son to have that meeting with a viola teacher, or did that happen spontaneously? I was actually thinking of trying to get my son to give a call and see if he could speak with any guitar teachers. His inclination seems to be to wait and see where he gets in before ramping up the research into specifics, like which teachers he would be working with. Though he has had other trial lessons, Hartt is not one of the places he did that. THERE ARE NO STUDENT PERFORMANCES THIS WEEKEND!!! We are so disappointed. Do you know of any local places that might give a good flavor of the jazz scene? Any clubs where the students play?

violadad

As I said, my son was in classical performance, and not that well versed in the jazz aspects; the two programs had little if any crossover. The crossover tended to be in the theory and performance business type courses. Looking at the curriculum, there were no orchestral/classical ensemble requirements for the Jazz Institute majors. You could try emailing Woodard, another faculty member, or even trying the Hartt Gigline (Contact the Hartt GigLine at 860.768.4463) and explain your situation. Or, you could ask while at the audition.

The Gigline serves as a referral service for musician jobs for students, and could probably point you in the direction of some of the local jazz venues where students play.

The "lesson" with the viola instructor was impromptu, and at the instructor's
suggestion. My son had taken a previous trial lesson some months before. I don't know the reason behind this second session, but son realized once he was at Hartt, he was the top candidate for his instrument; perhaps that had prompted it.