that’s good to hear. I hope the school gets itself all righted and past the drama asap for students!
3.5, anyway… students will jam with each other, NYU students, talk to students and faculty. S asked to memorize these tunes in confirmation email…
Straight No Chaser
All the Things You Are
Autumn Leaves
Solar
Oleo
Stella by Starlight
On Green Dolphin St.
Four
Have You Met Miss Jones
Cherokee
It Could Happen to You
If I Were a Bell
There’s No Greater Love
From my conversation with the jazz director (who was super transparent and forthcoming), the idea is to take the rigidity and stress out of the exercise by getting the kids to play together, call tunes for each other and relax. They will serve pizza at the end, lol.
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Thank you! Good luck to your son!
Can I just say, you jazz folks have a much cooler approach to these auditions!
Classical is so formal and seems purposely intense. And definitely no pizza involved. Perhaps high tea. But no pizza.
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Poker faces. No hello. Not a single question. Sterile like a hospital. My child’s description of his recent audition for classical music. Won’t name the school.
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Son had same experience in a contemporary music audition. Not fun. He would love to have an experience like the NYU jazz description
Sometimes yes, sometimes not. I will say that each and every audition has been different from the next for S. The best ones are when he is able to play with students or faculty. That’s why he’s looking forward to NYU and MSM and New School. It’s easiest to show your skills when you’re collaborating. This has been discussed and debated here in the past, but for S anyway, it’s been better than sitting down and playing some rudiments.
At one of the NJ school a couple of weeks ago, S played his audition with some students and after a couple of tunes, one of the faculty said “ok, now how about some rudiments?”. The other faculty member said, “I think we’re past rudiments, great job.” They and the students had a laugh, and S left the audition feeling pretty good about how he had done.
If only every audition played out the same way! Only 5 more to go…
I had a chuckle reading this (with pleasure), of an audition like that. I first laughed thinking of the movie Whiplash (want to know teachers who are like that guy? They see the movie and say “there are no teachers like that”. Then again my son’s old violin teacher in high school saw it and said “He is too lax”
The other laugh I had was thinking of the reputation of Jazz musicians in the past, somehow I don’t think it would be pizza and coke if they auditioned people for their group lol.
I actually wish classical music school auditions were like this, none of the ones I am aware of require them to play in an ensemble (some high level violin competitions do that, though), to see how they interact with other kids playing prepared pieces or even sight reading. Especially on string instruments, the playing is all solo work, when so much of what a working musician will do is enembles.
You don’t have to, most of them are like that IME, there is little interaction with the student other than to tell them what to play , when to stop and maybe not to take repeats. There are exceptions but when I hear people saying how their child played and the panel broke out in clapping, or told them how beautifully they played, experience tells me it is shall we say claptrap. Some places do try to make it more relaxed but especially at the top programs it is all business (someone said the Curtis auditions are like a broadway cattle call, it is an apt description).
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Interesting context. Now that my grad applicant has taken a handful of professional orchestra auditions, he is pleasantly surprised by how warm and interactive his grad school auditions have been. Note that grad school auditions are generally much more interactive than undergrad.
His summary of his pro orchestra prelim round auditions is that it is a completely unnatural way of performing. Basically you check in, are assigned a time slot in the next hour and ushered to a warm up space. At some point a stoic admin person summons you only by confirming your name and walks you to the performance area. No talking whatsoever. He has occasionally waited in a freezing hallway for 10 minutes. Once he had to climb 3 flights of stairs.
Then you are ushered to a spot behind a screen. A disembodied voice tells you what to play. Always the same concerto exposition. Then various excerpts called out by number. No accompaniment. No response. Then you’re done. Without ever having seen a person.
He actually loves the challenge. He has learned how to make this incredibly sterile process into an artistic event by filling in the orchestra and the audience in his head.
I am guessing that classical conservatory auditions are sterile because this process is somewhat the norm in the industry.
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I think the “vibe” at audition varies. My son’s experience at U Michigan SMTD two years ago was quite warm and welcoming.
His friends went to the Marine chamber orchestra audition this past fall, and described the first round colder than “sterile”. However, they felt good about not seeing (or be seen by) any judicator, so they don’t have to worry about appearance like clothing, facial expression, hairdo.
Note to jazz trombonists - the amazing Marshall Gilkes was formally appointed to Eastman faculty (announced a few days ago) and he just posted on his facebook they are accepting late applications to his studio. Reach out to him or Eastman.
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Yes! My son is beyond excited about this announcement and can’t wait to have lessons with him next year. Hope some incoming Jazz trombonists can take advantage of this great opportunity to apply!
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It’s a huge plus for everyone there and I thought of your son! So fantastic!!
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Hi, does anybody know/have experience with NYU Steinhardt “artistic scholarships” described on their website? Really want to know how common they were/how much to expect.
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Does anyone, maybe if you have older musicians as well, know about Aspen Festival acceptances? Like when do they tend to come out? Do fellowships and regular “paid” or partial scholarship offers come out together? Has anyone been accepted already?
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I remember Aspen notified the participants in late February last year and the year before, close to the end of February. Fellowship offers went out the same time. This year it should be next week.
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A dumb question here. Do you think most auditions at high level are flawless? Do your kids beat themselves up over 2-3 notes?
Out of lots of auditions, the only collaboration we’ve got is for a classical percussion audition coming up at NYU where student was given music to play with the percussion ensemble on day of audition. I think that’s great, but as it’s the first time of this, i think my student is possibly nervous. He just had an audition at Oberlin that was great we thought- the teacher treated it more as a lesson, so the teacher could not only hear the playing , but also get some more ‘natural’ interaction with student rather than an ‘on the spot’ interview, that isn’t the most natural thing for many of these kiddos. Also, the teacher could see how student reacted to instruction, and student could get an actual feel for the teacher, rather than the sterile blank face, as described above! It seemed like a much more worthwhile use of everyone’s time!!
Flawless? I have 3 musicians who all perform at a decently high level. I am yet to hear any of them come out of an audition saying everything was absolutely perfect. They always seem to have something to pick at. They don’t tend to beat themselves up over it, but they have definitely been surprised when they have passed an audition that they didn’t feel went well at all… Your kid worried about an audition? Get it. This season is definitely anxiety inducing.
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