Steinhardt

PrairieFlower · 01-29-2005, 05:17 PM

I'm auditioning in the city on Feb. 26th. Anyone else going to be there?

PrairieFlower · 01-30-2005, 09:18 PM

or is anyone applying to steinhardt at all or familiar with their auditions/admissions?

theatermom · 01-30-2005, 10:32 PM

Prairieflower,

My D auditioned and was accepted there last year. What do you want to know?

PrairieFlower · 01-31-2005, 07:00 PM

is she there now? what was her audition experience like? what was her musical theatre experience going into her audition, and how were her academics?

thanks!

chrism · 01-31-2005, 07:20 PM

Prairieflower - Check this FAQ board out if you haven't already...it's all questions about Steinhardt answered by admissions people.

http://nyu.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic...1&f=4324031391

theatermom · 02-01-2005, 11:02 AM

Prairie Flower,

I hope you were able to find lots of answers to your questions on the link kindly provided by Chrism. Although my D was accepted to Steinhardt and was treated wonderfully by the faculty and admissions people there, in the end, we did not think the program provided a sufficient balance of Dance and Acting classes to go along with the first rate music and vocal education. My D has been dancing since she was 5 and although he said he'd try to intercede on her behalf, the department chairman honestly admitted that he couldn't guarantee her placement in the advanced dance classes which are normally only offered to dance majors. When my D was offered a spot in the BFA MT program at Michigan, we didn't feel it necessary to have to try and make things work at Steinhardt. I will tell you that I was very impressed with the department, especially liked the smaller production of William Finn's "New Brain" that we saw (wasn't quite as impressed with "Ragtime") and was very grateful for the time the program made available to us. It also seems to me that they have one of the very few programs, along with OCU, that allows a young singer to seriously explore interests in both MT and Vocal Performance simultaneously as an undergraduate.

One caveat: If performance opportunites are critical to you, be aware that the presence of a Graduate program at Steinhardt may limit undergraduate performance opportunities.

theatermom · 02-01-2005, 11:13 AM

Prairie Flower,

Sorry, didn't answer your other questions:

Her audition experience was wonderful. She was made to feel very comfortable and especially loved the acoustics of the room in which she sang and did her monologue.

Interestingly enough, my D should be the poster child for not having to have a long list of MT credits in order to be accepted in a strong BFA MT program. For most of her life, she thought she'd be a dancer and only started focusing on MT in her junior year of high school. She now says she can't believe the resumes and experiences of many of her classmates at UM and pinches herself every day that she was accepted with so little experience. Her training was limited to Quaker high school drama (not really acting) classes, select choir, a capella and chorus, 3 high school musicals, 1 professional acting credit as a 12 year old, the summer program at CMU and 2 years of private classical voice training (along with her many years of dance - mostly ballet). So you see, anything is possible!

She was reasonably strong academically. A- average and 1260 SAT's.

Hope this helps.

PrairieFlower · 02-01-2005, 07:22 PM

thank you so much!

<3*Dianne*<3 · 12-05-2005, 04:03 PM

theatermom,

Where did your D go to school? I thought I was the only musical theater-obsessed Quaker high school girl out there. I'm a Quaker myself so I know a lot of the schools out there in the PA area. It's true that while they may be open and caring and interested in diversity, the budget for theater is nada (at least at my school).

anyway,

Prarie Flower,

I just auditioned for Steinhardt Voice Performance major last Saturday. I expected cold, unfeeling judges that would rush me through my 15-minute slot but that was not the case at all. I got there about an hour ahead of time to sign in and warm up. The girl at the desk on the 7th floor of the education building was very friendly, and she gave me a sheet to fill out the names and composers of the songs I was singing, so I didn't even have to announce them when I got in there. Then I went up to the 9th floor and practiced in a small but resonant practice room--I was lucky enough to find one with a piano. I got a good 20 minutes in there, then went back down and waited for the girl before me to finish.

When I got in the room there were three men that asked me to go onto a small stage with a piano. One of the men took my music and played for me (he tended to speed up the accompaniment, but obviously he was very good). I sang my first song and at the end they asked me some questions about it and had me sing through the first phrase a few times under their direction--they even said nice things like "you know we're doing this because we think you're really talented". Then they let me choose the next song, but stopped me before the end so they could hear the beginning of my third song.

The one thing that tripped me up was that besides a line of super-easy sightreading, they had a music theory test. They asked me to play certain notes on the piano and identify intervals--not just "that's a third," but "that's a harmonic third." I choked on the interval test, so brush up on your music theory! They had me do my monologue last and didn't even look up during it so I guess acting isn't quite as important to them. But they were friendly and the atmosphere was very comfortable and supporting.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
~Dianne

theatermom · 12-05-2005, 04:15 PM

Hi Dianne!

Glad you had a good experience at Steinhardt. We also found everyone to be very friendly and helpful. Also encouraging. Don't know if this was your first audition but it was for my D and the attitude and support at Steinhardt were such a great help the first time out.

She was accepted for MT but chose to go elsewhere. However I think she would have gotten great vocal training at Steinhardt.

We're not actually Quakers, but I feel your pain about the limited arts in Quaker schools. My D's school actually had more opportunities than many but light years away from some of the stories I've read here about PA high schools. But I've also written that I think it was not all bad in the long run because she continues to be so excited by all of her classes at UM (she's currently a sophomore) - EVERYTHING is new!!

Best of luck to you!

wickedone · 03-17-2006, 08:31 AM

has anyone heard anything yet? or all we all holding out until 4/1???