<p>You don’t have to state why you think this is true, it doesn’t matter if you are a parent or teacher.</p>
<p>List the voice part after the song.</p>
<p>This is just out of pure curiosity, because online there are many lists of overdone Musical Theater repertoire, but I cannot find any for classical singers.</p>
<p>VP is not like Musical Theater. Since there is a lot of standard repertoire that is expected to be learned as a developing singer, I do not see the overdone issue in VP like it is in Musical Theater. Your only risk is that if you are performing standards from the 24 Italian Art Songs and do not do a good job it will be obvious. The same for some of the arias that are used in teaching techniques. I would not shy away from the standards because they are done a lot, however. IMHO = Parent’s view from having sat outside a lot of auditions. Music faculty listening to these might feel differently.</p>
<p>I believe in VP “standards” are what is required and expected. The criticism that is mostly heard is young singers singing things that are two advanced for them.</p>
<p>It depends on the level of schools you’re auditioning into. One of the 24 arias is not likely to be impressive at say, a conservatory audition. However, it might not be overdone there because people are generally smart enough to stay away from them at higher-level auds.</p>
<p>Good singing is good singing, and it does not matter what is sung. A competitive audition will demonstrate the timbre of the voice, technique (consistency and control), agility, range, and artistry. Many of the best teachers immediately back new student up to the standard repertory, the old Italian pieces especially. A singer presenting one of those pieces at a conservatory audition will not be discounted, and their discipline will be respected. Presenting an overly dramatized war-horse will earn no kudos, however.</p>
<p>lorelei2702 is absolutely right (and for those who know her background as voice teacher, she certainly doesn’t need my 1.5 cents of backing).</p>
<p>The people listening to auditions have generally heard it all and have heard it all many times over. They are listening for a voice with potential and for a musical intelligence. As long as the repertoire allows one to demonstrate this, then it is good repertoire to use, no matter how frequently or how rarely the repertoire has been sung at auditions. </p>
<p>Ambitious young musicians are much more likely to make the mistake of choosing repertoire which is too difficult for them than choosing repertoire which is too “easy” (if there actually is such a thing as too easy). Overly difficult repertoire can actually mask a young singer’s strengths and potential. Rep like the 24 Italian usually lets the potential shine through very clearly. </p>
<p>Ultimately there is good music and bad music, and there is music well-suited to a voice and music that is poorly suited to a voice. If a person has great potential then that will be obvious regardless of whether they sing something that has been heard 17 times that day or sing something that has never been heard before in an audition.</p>
<p>I understand that the most important part of the audition is to show the potential and showcase the voice. But I can’t see a commitee overlooking a singer singing 3 or 4 pieces from the 24 arias book. I think they would get hung up somewhere on the idea that this person has not really explored much in the way of repertoire, and could lead one to question their experience among other things. But by all means, don’t sing something harder than what one can handle. I think a middle ground would suffice.</p>
<p>For most auditions you would not be able to make multiple selections form the Italian repertoire. Different languages and styles are usually required. But each language has the same sort of art songs available and there really is no such thing as overdone in the VP auditions for classical repertoire. It is not something to worry about for this type of audition, unlike musical theater. .</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with the above recommendations but I will throw in a parent’s observation. My D didn’t mind being the first one to sing but there was definitely a mental “blip” if she was the third person to sing the same song. She would take the time to mentally pump herself up about what was going to make her stand out when she was singing the same song. She did go through a mental checklist when picking her audition songs. Really was three attributes:1 what fits your voice the best. 2. shows off your best attributes and 3. is a song you feel emotionally and love to sing. (You’re going to be singing it A LOT so you might as well like it.) Obviously, she chose within the school’s listed requirements and looked for diversity in tempo and emotion. She did choose repertoire outside of the box and it didn’t hurt her auditions. I don’t come from a music background - I’m really a sports person so my advice to her was always about being mentally prepared as well as technically sound and capitalizing on her strengths. So I could have influenced her choices in that respect.</p>
<p>I don’t think that anyone was even remotely suggesting that someone sing 3 or 4 songs from the 24 Italian. As Singersmom07 points out, that would not fall within the parameters of any college’s audition requirements, and I have certainly never heard of anyone going into an audition with such an absurdly narrow list. If they did, they might be rejected outright for being either being clearly illiterate or just too careless to bother reading the requirements or for thinking that they are so good that they can completely ignore the requirements. </p>
<p>People were merely suggesting that it is just fine to include a song or two of the same difficulty level as the 24 Italian. Too many young musicians get too hung up on doing the most difficult repertoire possible without realizing how poorly they perform it or what damage it is doing to their technique/voice. I rarely hear performances by high school musicians which leave me wishing that the performer had selected more difficult repertoire; far far too often, I hear performances what leave me wishing the performer had chosen something that they could actually express themselves through right than fight their way through.</p>
<p>Throwing in an anecdote about the Italian 24: My D was one of the many who used one of the pieces for her Italian selection. It was one of the longer ones. The selection committee loved it, told her that it was worth two pieces, and they really didn’t need to hear anything else. Later that day, one of the professors stopped her on the green and said that it had been an absolute pleasure listening to her, and thanking her.<br>
I share this because it is a good illustration of the benefit of a simple song done well.</p>