Peabody - still waiting

violadad
Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:29:33 +0000

lorelei, I don’t disagree with you. But honestly, the Peabody wording as quoted by various posters was not necessarrily the most tactful.

I do agree that if a student is not up to the standards of a particular program, they should be made aware of it. If they’ve done their homework and have had accurate assessments of talent, potential, and ability to grow, they should have a reasonable idea at any audition how they stack up against the pool. If they are “reaching” at an audition, the well informed should and will know this going into it.

A rejection worded as was Peabody’s should leave some room for constructive dialog and discussion, and it can benefit a margininal applicant in being able to address shortcomings objectively and seek means to improve without denigrating current talent and skill levels.

Perhaps the wording “Should you wish to talk to us about your career goals, feel free to contact us.” as quoted by mom4 is an attempt by Peabody to encourage dialog and allow their view of an applicant’s audition to be relayed to the rejected applicant.

I would suggest anyone not completely put off by the comments of the rejection letter actually call Peabody and see if they are willing to address audition results/shortcomings on a personal basis. You may get answers, you may get nothing, you may see a reinforcement of the tone of superiority apparent in the rejection letter.

Audition feedback is not a given in the college process or industry in general. Sometimes you can get it, sometimes not. It depends on the auditioning body. The only way to get it is to ask.

And part of this whole process is learning how to deal with rejection as a performer. The more experience, the more benchmarks are attained in sorting through valid, marginal, and undue criticism. It can make one a better performer, or it can stop someone in their tracks.

Given the overall tone of superiority in other phraseology within the letter, many applicants may not see this.

I think Peabody’s rejection letter could have been phrased far more positively than it was without gilding any lilies.

Just my $.02