<p>My S also did the Curtis whirlwind last season, and didn’t make the Finals…but neither he nor his mother/myself were sorry he auditioned (of course, we were close enough to make a roughly 9 hour drive to the audition…his mother and I both had vacation time available…and we were able to book premium hotel space for multiple nights for free using Loyalty points). </p>
<p>As a tenor, he (in some respects) probably tried to talk himself into the notion that “there’s always room for a good tenor”…but most importantly, he left the audition stating it was (to that point) one of THE best he’d done. Under the circumstances, if your child is fortunate enough to walk out the front door with that attitude (even after the disappointment), you really can’t ask a whole lot more. </p>
<p>In retrospect…though we quickly recognized this during the process…Curtis just isn’t the kind of place for which you can go-in “assuming” anything; anyone who does so, IMO, simply invites disappointment (which, we all know, is always the case when subjective judgment is part of the equation). You’ve mentioned the non-emotional approach of the auditioner; upon reflection, I suspect you’ll appreciate his reason for being that way when you consider the sheer enormity of the talent passing through on audition day each year.</p>
<p>One more little tidbit of the experience; I recall my S trying to navigate the Day awaiting the decision to move on, as well as his management of the aftermath. One thing I distinctly recall him saying he learned after talking to some Curtis students during the day was that, while Curtis apparently DOES have a “quota” (for lack of a better term) for given voices, he got the equally distinct impression the auditioner will (and does) accept applicants who…for reasons not immediately evident/explainable, and again, for lack of a better term…“strike his fancy”. </p>
<p>I recall him talking of one current student he met…might have been a junior…who had nothing in the way of a “traditional” background (he may have been more a lead-singer-in-a-band type) coming in. The impression my S got was that the auditioner, for reasons unknown, simply found some qualities in this applicant’s voice that (again, my words here) just “struck his fancy”.</p>
<p>A year later, I remain under the impression this student…even several years into his Curtis career…was somewhat dumbstruck that he was actually offered admission.</p>