BassDad

Curtis provides accompanists for all voice, flute, violin, viola and 'cello auditions but requires that all other instruments (including double bass) perform auditions without accompaniment. Everyone is charged a $120 audition fee, in addition to the $135 application fee, whether or not an accompanist is provided. The accompanists are generally members of staff and you do not get to rehearse with them before the audition.

I have heard some of the Curtis staff accompanists play for masterclasses and recitals and, as you might expect, they are quite good.

shennie

At Eastman, all piano majors are required to accompany a minimum of 2 students each semester. Some end up doing more. However, there are not enough accompanists to go around for all the students, so some students end up having to pay. My son is lucky enough to have an excellent accompanist so he has never had to pay for one as an undergrad. He also did not need an accompanist for any of his auditions.

overseas

Son (oboe) is downstairs practicing with an accompanist for an audition for a European Youth Orchestra for this summer. Cost.....$65.

operamom

What do you think about the vocal performance programs at UCLA, UCSB, UCSC, USC and Oberlin? My S (a bass) wants a career in opera, but as an undergraduate, he wants to double major or at least minor in an academic subject. He has therefore applied only to programs within a university or in the case of NEC and Peabody, affiliated with a university via a double degree program. DS is particularly interested in UCLA. We would be grateful for feedback.

MomofWildChild

Oberlin has an excellent classical voice program and D also applied to double major in an academic area and voice. She was accepted, but chose Rice. She liked Rice's location, weather and voice department better.

calicomom

Lorelei, I have tried to send you private messages but for some reason they don't go through. I really appreciate your perspective...
Last week I took d to her first college visit: boston conservatory. We didn't really have a good sense of the difference between bc and nec until we actually went there. The we sites make every school loos so good, and don't show any warts at all. To me, bc seemed intimate, but also (no bookstore or even cafeteria, and a very tiny snack bar area) cramped for space. D was able to get a private lesson with a teacher at bc, which was valuable not only to get a feel for bc, but also to get an unbiased opinion about the state of d's voice and how she's been taught. The comments the teacher made were all positibe: mature voice, healthy sound, etc. She had not one negative comment. She did stress enunciating vowels in the lesson, so maybe that's a sign d needs to work harder at that. Thinking over all the things you and others have written about voice teachers, and the comments from that bc teacher, I think d is very well served by her current private voice teacher, as far as developing her voice goes, even though d is not getting into nats competitions (teacher is not in nats). D is getting some solo work at our church, and will solo at her school choral concert this spring. She sang at a talent show at her school and afterward her hs music teacher told us that d could go to any school she wants for music perf, mentioned julliard and curtis as not reaches but likelies...of course as parents we were thrilled to hear this, but we want to be realistic too. There is a ton of competition out there. So, which schools(looking at New England, NY< NJ< PA< OH< DEL< MD>VA) do you think are best for a classical soprano voice major?

MomofWildChild

Julliard and Curtis are not likelies for anyone! I'm surprised the voice teacher said that. Is your D going to enter ARTS competition next year as a senior? That is the most important hs music competition. None of the female vocalists from Interlochen (D's high school) got into Julliard her year, and that included 2 ARTS finalists and one runner-up.
We hated NEC when we visited, and D says most of the Interlochen kids who went are unhappy. Cleveland (CIM) is great for voice and the sopranos from Interlochen who went there are very happy. D is a mezzo, but she thought the voice faculty at Oberlin, Indiana and Rice (where she is) were tops.

calicomom

Yeah, I figured we should take the teacher's comments with a large grain of salt...by the way that opinion wasn't from d's voice teacher but her hs choral and band teachers...hadn't heard of ARTS competition but d is game to compete, guess I should google that one and find out more. She is applying to Tanglewood, Interlochen and Oberlin's summer voice programs, so that should give her a more accurate idea of where she really stands in relation to her peers. Any other competitions or programs d should think about?

MomofWildChild

D went to Tanglewood the summer before her senior year. She auditioned for BU at Tanglewood. If your D goes to Interlochen, the voice faculty will give her a very accurate assessment. D's teacher at Interlochen tells all the kids (as do the instrument teachers) that Julliard, et al are a reach for everyone!
Keep in touch with me.

calicomom

thanks, I will keep in touch. where is your d now?

MomofWildChild

D is a soph voice major at Rice. She loves Rice- chose it over Oberlin, Indiana, BU, NEC and CIM. She told me this week she thinks she would have been happy at Oberlin, Indiana or CIM. Her voice teacher at Interlochen recommended Rice because the mezzo teacher is fabulous. Otherwise, D would not have considered coming back to Texas. Rice is a perfect fit for her academically, too. She thought the Indiana voice program (espec opera) was possibly stronger than Julliard, but it is a very large program and would be better for grad school. Her Interlochen roommate went to IU as a voice/composition major and loves it.

calicomom

Rice does sound wonderful, but it's too far from home for d (and me, too! I want to be able to drive to her recitals!) glad to hear your d is happy there and doing well.

lorelei2702

calicomom: I did get a message from you and answered you, so maybe you did not get my message! As soon as I read your latest post, my immediate response was identical to the post after yours: Curtis and Juilliard are not likelies for anyone, and indeed they are quite a stretch. Curtis accepts only the most exceptional natural talents, more often the rare voice types, and it is an extraordinary thing to be admitted. Juilliard accepts such a tiny percentage of the voice applicants, and as I have said elsewhere on this forum, they do not want to accept undergraduate voice students, they do so only to maintain their status as comprehensive music conservatory. Not a single voice teacher (talk about a gross generalization!) at any of the conservatories thinks a conservatory with advanced and older singer is the best place for a young voice. Your daughter cannot rush getting older, and that is an absolute necessity to healthily and wisely use her talent. She needs to be somewhere with fine, nurturing, resourceful, energetic teachers. She needs to solidify her musicianship. She needs to learn languages and stage craft. She needs to get her "sea legs" on the stage. Meanwhile, she needs to get an education, because she has a better statistical chance of becoming a US Senator than making her living solely as a singer. As long as she is making progress, being admitted to excellent schools, winning roles and contests, gaining range, projection, and control, you can be assured she is doing well. If those things are not happening, she needs to think of other options for herself, and you need to encourage that, emotionally and financially. You want her to make choices which will lead her to success in life, not failure, even though there will be disappointment along the way. We have all been disappointed, but we have survived and grown. She can cope, no matter how difficult the moment of reality might be.

THe lifestyle and choices of a professional singer in the early stages are not ones you, as her mother, will like. She will have no sense of stability and home. She will be poor. She will be far away. She will get sick and everything she has hoped for will be at risk. It is a gruesome process. However, if she is driven and lucky, and if she picked the right parents (genetic talent), she will do it all anyway.

About the lesson: there are far worse problems than vowel clarity and pronunciation. It is a safe, more instrumental way to sing, less likely to constrict and limit range and timbre. There is plenty of time to fix that. Do not worry. Joan Sutherland never dealt with it, and she sang far longer than any high soprano about whom I know.

About the schools: Indiana is too big and has too many graduate students for good undergraduate experience. Michigan is a much better choice, good facilities, excellent faculty, strong program. Illinois has good teachers and good facilities. Ohio State has some good teachers, but not such good facilities. University of Maryland has excellent music school, fine faculty, and rumor has it: money! Oberlin is a good option, though it requires really strong academics, as is Cleveland Institute of Music. Eastman is a great school, though very difficult to gain entry for singers. Cincinnati is too big, and almost impossible to get into, graduate or undergraduate. Shenandoah in Virgina has good faculty. Your daughter should think about what external environment she wants, city, town, rural, city, big, little, cold, hot, secular environment, religious school. THose things make a difference in the quality of her everyday life, and she will be more likely to stay healthy.

What else, let me know, either through a public forum post, or try the private thing again. I do not know what happened. Good luck.

calicomom

wow, that's a whole lot of food for thought, Lorelei.
Of the schools you mention, Eastman and Oberlin are on d's list, but do you think Julliard would be a good choice if she were enrolled at Barnard and just going to J for the voice lessons? I have a vague idea of how grueling, poorly paid and unlikely an actual performing career is for anyone, and that's why I hope d will choose a place that is not only a conservatory but also a college where she can broaden her mind, maybe do a double major, or even (gasp!) change her major later on...doesn't look likely that she'll lose interest in music, but most people I know changed direction in college at least once.
Any other places you can reccomend in the northeast? She would like a city (Boston, NYC, Phila, Rochester, Pittsburgh, maybe Baltimore), but is visiting Oberlin anyway because her swim coach and piano teacher and her mom think she would do well there She is pretty strong academically, has a 3.7 gpa and takes all honors/AP courses...

BassDad

Lorelei,

while I always look forward to reading your posts, I must say that one was exceptionally good. Thank you for sharing.