<p>I’m going to go out on a limb here, after thinking about this for a bit…and I will dodge the rotten tomatoes that anyone might want to throw my way for saying this. In my experience, the best way to listen is with my eyes closed. I do it all the time so that I am not influenced by what I see. It has been a revelation, to say the least, to have a singer in the house who has enlightened us to the world of vocal performance. Stage presence is important, but should never trump true musical talent. Perhaps the person in charge was merely trying to listen to the voice itself without distractions. An institution like Curtis does not need to be friendly (it would be nice), considering the ratio of applicants vs. openings. In addition, the apparent coldness of the process might be a carefully thought out decision-afterall, how many posts on this forum have been from people wanting to know what a smile/nod/conversation might mean for the outcome of their audition? Perhaps, in the interest of fairness, the person in charge keeps his head down in order to listen and not give away anything positive or negative, or influence the performer. One cannot visually see the emotion in the performance…it’s there in the phrasing, etc. and can be heard. The stage presence should be secondary to the music. I actually applaud Curtis for the way that they have handled their auditions-it sounds as though they are trying to make this a blind process, similar to the instrumental auditions for a professional orchestra. (I think I just heard a tomato thrown my way…LOL) The fact that they have so few openings and allow so many applicants is a good thing as one can only tell so much about a performer from a video-nothing can replace the live sound at an audition. They are casting a wide net in order not to miss the possibility of a losing out on a great student, which is very positive. And once again, those who do make it through their pre-screening process obviously have something very good happening, and should take it as encouragement. This is a great lesson for those who are trying to make it in the business-the competition only gets more intense. </p>
<p>Hopefully, for future reference, next year’s round of VP candidates will read this thread and go in with complete awareness…CC is great for that.</p>
<p>And now…tomatoes please!</p>