Are music competitions necessary?

StacJip
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 05:43:40 +0000

I can’t speak for the classical world. But I do know that for my son, a Jazz musician, competitions for all-state positions and ensemble positions and festivals were all experiences that normalized the audition process for him. Over time he became less nervous and stressed about performing for just a few people or for a group of people who were judging him because that was just something he did as an aspiring musician and that in turn made auditions for colleges go much more smoothly and allowed him to really show what he was capable of.