<p>Schools with pre-audition requirements/pre-screening CDs can eliminate a lot of students who might have otherwise have applied and auditioned, but never had a chance. It is one reason I am a great fan of the qualifying CDs, which were required everywhere (that he applied) for one of my son’s instruments, and most everywhere for the second. I figured that if they invited him for an audition, he was in the running. </p>
<p>Of course there are students, invited from pre-audition CDs, who will still be denied because others are more talented that year, or others already have relationships with teachers from summer programs/lessons etc, but at least I don’t think that they have been “led on”, as Mezzo’sMama describes. For schools that audition everyone, there may be students auditioning who really never stood a chance, which is again why I like the practice lessons and pre-screens. It’s just too much time and money to consider spending on all that travel for auditions without some assurance that the student is within the pack of those who “could” be admitted.</p>
<p>Fellow CC’ers: I’m not so fond of pre-screening CD’s. Getting a high quality cd is very expensive and doesn’t necessarily guarantee a recording reflective of a student’s talent, especially with a younger student. As far as the expense goes – here’s my feeling. I know each pre-visit and each audition trip typically costs somewhere between $500 and $1000. But I also know that we’ve spent upwards of $500 a month on voice and piano lessons, beaucoup dollars on SAT tutoring, maybe $1000 on competitions and all state choirs each year, and then of course there’s college tuition and room and board, tuxedo’s, fancy dresses, – the list goes on. Considering the sum total of expenses, the audition trips are just another part of the investment dollars needed to participate in this venture. In any case where there’s a choice between an on-site audition or a CD, I would always, always recommend an on-site audition. Human interaction is almost always more effective than digital communications. I also know that not everybody can afford the luxory of so many on-site visits and auditions – my recommendation – reduce the quantity of schools the student applies to and invest travel dollars in those schools where the student has the best shot. When all is said and done the world revolves through people to people interactions – the audition is just the beginning of that interplay for most young musicians. I’m signing off before I take myself too seriously.</p>
<p>I agree about on-site auditions, without question. But those audition trips are expensive, since they almost always include a night in a hotel and meals, in addition to the cost of travel. The pre-screen can save some people this expense right from the beginning. It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive doing a recording either, and since all of the students are obstensibly more or less the same age (fall seniors), no one has the advantage of age really. Sure, there are some kids with better recordings, but if a student who had no chance of being admitted could be saved a $1-2K audition trip? It makes the pre-screens VERY worthwhile IMO! ;)</p>
<p>My son (a jazz studies drummer & concert percussionist) auditioned in person at several universities within our home state. He also supplied a DVD audition to three out-of-state choices.
The DVD was done in a local recording studio ($600.00 to get the audio up to a high level) but the synchronized video content was shot with a consumer camcorder and edited on a desktop system at minimal cost. The idea was to have it sound great but not look too slick. The video was essentially a “locked down” shot of my son performing solo and with a combo of professional friends/mentors - the framing was close enough to evaluate his technique.
As for the cost? My guess is that travel, hotel and food costs for one parent and student to travel to several live auditions might be far greater than the cost of making the DVD. However, be sure to check the DVD/CD audition requirements (and performance selection guidelines) for each college, carefully. They often have very specific
requests for running time and musical selections, etc.
As for the results? At one of the live auditions at an in-state school, my son came down with the flu and had a hard time putting any energy into his performances. He was not accepted into their music program, although it was one of the least selective schools.
At the other three live auditions, he did well was accepted and offered scholarships at each university in the $1000.00 to $2000.00 per year range.
Better yet, his DVD auditions gained him admission to all three “distant schools” with scholarships around the same level. However two of these out-of-state universities also allow music scholarship students to qualify for in-state tuition. That made joining these music departments super-affordable.
With the other jazz studies applicants I’m familiar with - both kids did live auditions only. One student crashed and burned at every audition, wasn’t accepted anywhere and will attend a community college and (hopefully) upgrade after two years. The other was accepted at all but one program. (4 out of 5, I believe)
Best of luck to auditioning students and their “stressed out” parents.</p>
<p>As I non-musical parent, and one who did not know the full range of matters to be considered and addressed going into the college/audition process, I would like to share my S’s experience, which may encourage some others. S studied classical piano privately since kindergarten, and reached all-state (alternate) on baritone sax taking only the lessons offered at his public school. He played electric bass guitar in his public school jazz bands beginning in the 7th grade, but never took any private lessons. He never attended any summer programs or festivals, and never took any music theory classes. In Sept. of Sr year, S & I met with his jazz band teacher and the head of the music department in our school district to discuss preparation for auditions, etc. We left that meeting quite discouraged, having been advised how difficult the process would be given his present posture, and the fact that he wanted to audition on the electric bass guitar instead of piano or bari sax. We were even advised to consider taking a year off to study intensively on the electric bass. We scrambled around to find a teacher to help S pick out and prepare a pre-screen and full audition repertoire. He took approx. 10 one hour lessons between the fall and his last full audition. He took no private lessons at the schools to which he was applying. Many schools were out of the running because they did not permit auditions on the electric bass guitar, only upright, even for jazz, so that narrowed the field. He did the live pre-screen at NYU in the fall open house, and submitted homemade recordings for all the others.</p>
<p>Bottom line - he did not pass the pre-screen process at Manhattan School of Music, and was invited for full auditions at U Miami, UNTx, Duquesne, NEC & Peabody. He submitted a DVD audition recording to UNTX, and did live auditions at the others. He was accepted at Duquesne, NYU, NEC, and Peabody in the jazz performance programs playing electric bass guitar. During the parent info session at NEC, we were informed that there were only 6 bass openings, classical and jazz combined. I am not sure about the number of openings in the other programs. S ultimately chose NYU due to the size of the program and the instructors.</p>
<p>What we took away from this whole process was that the schools are looking for talented musicians who they think will fit well with their style of teaching. I know my S did not connect with the individuals at Frost who auditioned him, so personality certainly comes into play, and he left feeling certain that he would not be accepted. It may be very different in the classical world compared to jazz, but I would tell any student to not be discouraged by all the frenzy, be yourself, and follow your dream. If you have talent, it will be recognized, because ultimately that is what this process is all about. I know my S was also lucky, but there are many paths to success. Good luck to everyone.</p>
<p>Bassdad, exactly, I have not only heard the same thing second hand, I have heard that one first hand, about styles and such. And yes, few places talk about the ‘standards behind the standards’ that in a sense could be thought of as leading people on. I know of programs, for example, by direct knowledge, that if you aren’t studying with a teacher at the school or know a teacher in the program, the odds of getting in are small (why? Partially because no matter how good you are, unless one of the teachers wants to take you on, you don’t get in…and teachers might even be interested, but currently have too many students. For another, there is a sort of quid pro quo system, where teachers get kids in [obviously who are otherwise qualified] by getting consensus from the other teachers on the panel i.e you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours].</p>
<p>The point of my original post is that a kid can be a musical whiz, a prodigy, whatever, all the talent and presence in the world, and may run into a brick wall, and see kids who technically or musically or personality wise seem to be nowhere near him/her, yet they get in, and often it is because of ‘unsaid’ expectations and such. I know of one program on the violin where if a student has been trained in the so called “russian style”, they will have a nightmare getting in because most of the auditioners are from the “franco-belgian” school, and they tend to not like Russian style playing <em>shrug</em>. I am simply saying that it pays to find out what is going on in a program, that it isn’t just about the list of requirements, but that each program has its own tempo, its own backstory and such, that it pays to be prepared and forewarned.</p>