The Auditions
Ok... so since im feeling a little better, and will be spending the night in, I figured id write about my grad school auditions. The whole experience was actually much better than I anticipated. I was waiting for the anxiety dreams mixed within the restless sleep, and not being able to eat anything or focus... but that really didnt happen. I think I was more concerned about not getting sick and concentrating on keeping the vitamin c/zicam/juice/tea/cough drops/vicks/humidifier combo goin strong.
Anywho...
Boston Conservatory:
This was my first audition. I had the day off from teaching because I knew that wouldnt make for a relaxed me. I got up after a good nights sleep, had a small breakfast, poked around, made sure my music was ready and that I remember all the words to the songs. I got dressed and headed to Brandeis to warm up a bit. I felt better knowing that my voice worked, so then it was time to head into the city. I got in and parked and had a little trouble finding the right building in the FREEZING cold, but managed to get there with a good amount of time. I checked in, filled out my audition sheet and headed upstairs to warm up. The place was buzzing with lots of undergrad girls with their Mom's. I had to squish into the worlds smallest elevator with one pair. They were both very nice and wished me luck. I got into a room and had about 20 minutes to warm up some more, run some things... make sure I felt ready. Then it was time to head back downstairs to where my audition was, so I hopped back in the tiny elevator, squeezing myself in with another undergrad and her Mother. I got to the audition room in time to hear the guy before me. It was actually not discouraging. He was good, but not anything out of this world, so I thought to myself "I can do that, if not better." Shortly after, I was in. I walked into a decent sized room to find 10 of the faculty sitting behind a long table. This was more people than I was expecting for sure. I was told all their names, sadly I remember none at this point. They asked me to take off my glasses (which caught me a little off guard), and then to choose the first song. I went with my French aria and off I went. It went pretty well. The ending cadenza didnt go so smoothly, but I made it through without vomiting. =) They then asked me to sing the Brahms piece I had prepared, and that went just fine. They asked if I had any questions and then sent me on my way. I walked out hugely relieved and also quite out of it.
Boston University:
Auditions part deux. I preface this audition with a quick story. The day of my last rehearsal before my Coro concert, I got an email from the director saying, "The alto soloist cannot be at rehearsal tonight. Would you mind stepping in and singing the Et incarnatus est for tonight? It would really help the bass." No pressure right? Stand up in front of all your peers, and an orchestra, with 3 professional soloists, and sing something you dont know! WHAT!? But... I did it. I was sweating my ass off and think that was scarier than any of my auditions, but I did it.
So... the next day was my BU audition. I took the day off from work so I would be as stress free as possible. The nice snow storm didnt help that so much, but... the show must go on, and so did auditions. It took me about an hour to make the trek into the city, but I got there just in time. I parked right in front of the building my audition was in, since EVERYONE ELSE was heading far away from the city... but that was good. I walked in and again did the filling out of the audition sheet, and headed into the creepy basement to warm up. I had about 25 minutes, which was perfect. When done, I headed upstairs and almost immediately went into the audition room, which was smaller than BoCo, but still decent sized so I didnt feel suffocated. I walked in to only 4 people sitting behind the table, but shockingly I saw a familiar face. Who did I see? THE BASS SOLOIST from Coro! I couldnt believe the irony. One day im standing in front of Coro singing with him... the next day im singing in front of him hoping he thinks im good enough to be accepted into the program. I thought he may have recognized me, but I didnt want to be unprofessional or make an ass of myself if he didnt, so I kept quiet and did my thing. Again, I got to choose the first piece, and again I chose the French aria. The cadenza went a bit better, but again, nerves prevented that high C from flying out the way it normally can. Ah well. They then asked me to sing the Britten, and that went pretty well. They then thanked me and sent me on my way.
The following night at the Coro concert, my thought that the bass recognized me was confirmed. He smiled at me and said "Nice to see you again." And I responded by saying the same and how surprising it was to see his face at my audition. Then he told me I had done a good job the day before... which I guess could be taken as a good sign? That or just politeness? I dont know.
Longy:
2 down, 1 to go.
I managed to stay healthy for my last audition! Success! I did get nervous because after my routine of prepping and getting myself into the city on time... arriving at the school, filling out the info sheet, and getting into a warm up room... I started to get really hot and to feel nauseous. I was worried I was going to throw up all over the room, but managed to calm myself down. Im not even sure why I got that way because I wasnt more nervous than before, but it happened. Luckily, I was ok.
Longy's audition was a little different. I had time in the room by myself to warm up and run through things. Then, the pianist came in and ran through my pieces with me, which I thought was really awesome. After just a quick tempo check on everything, we headed upstairs and into the hall. This audition room was like a mini auditorium (me standing on a stage and all), and was right by the entrance to the building, so everyone coming in and/or waiting could hear me. Luckily, that was an ok thing I think! There were just 4 people for this audition, as well. Per usual, I chose first and chose the French. The good thing this time was they stopped me about 3/4 of the way through so I didnt have to sing the cadenza at all! Yay! Then they asked me to sing the Brahms, and let me get all the way through. I felt really good about it, and one of the women said "Oh, lovely." The other thing that was different about Longy was after I sang, they had me sit down and talk to them. This was almost more intimidating than the singing because I had to just be myself. They seemed relaxed and casual, which helped a bit, and I did think it was pretty cool of them to actually take a minute to see some of each auditioners personality, rather than just judging you as merely a voice. They asked me about my time at Brandeis and how my vocal study had been going since graduation. Then they asked about something I think I still needed to work on. Then they asked me where I saw myself in ten years. I HATE those questions. So I told them the same thing I think I put in our high school year book... that id probably still be trying to figure out where id be in 10 years. They all laughed, so I did too, lol. Then I told them that I knew I wanted to keep performing, but that I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do so I could make sure id be financially safe. They told me id hear around the third week in March and sent me off. I changed out of my dress for the last time and heaved a HUGE sigh of relief because I had lived through grad school auditions.
While my sense of relief is now tainted with a small sense of panic and worry that I wont get in... at least its out of my hands. At least I didnt throw up. At least I made it through singing well... not everything was my very best, but im human... im not perfect, despite the desire for musical perfection. I lived, and im doing it. I put myself out there, and I feel great about that.
In a few short weeks I should know, and hopefully ill be struggling with a choice!
Anywho...
Boston Conservatory:
This was my first audition. I had the day off from teaching because I knew that wouldnt make for a relaxed me. I got up after a good nights sleep, had a small breakfast, poked around, made sure my music was ready and that I remember all the words to the songs. I got dressed and headed to Brandeis to warm up a bit. I felt better knowing that my voice worked, so then it was time to head into the city. I got in and parked and had a little trouble finding the right building in the FREEZING cold, but managed to get there with a good amount of time. I checked in, filled out my audition sheet and headed upstairs to warm up. The place was buzzing with lots of undergrad girls with their Mom's. I had to squish into the worlds smallest elevator with one pair. They were both very nice and wished me luck. I got into a room and had about 20 minutes to warm up some more, run some things... make sure I felt ready. Then it was time to head back downstairs to where my audition was, so I hopped back in the tiny elevator, squeezing myself in with another undergrad and her Mother. I got to the audition room in time to hear the guy before me. It was actually not discouraging. He was good, but not anything out of this world, so I thought to myself "I can do that, if not better." Shortly after, I was in. I walked into a decent sized room to find 10 of the faculty sitting behind a long table. This was more people than I was expecting for sure. I was told all their names, sadly I remember none at this point. They asked me to take off my glasses (which caught me a little off guard), and then to choose the first song. I went with my French aria and off I went. It went pretty well. The ending cadenza didnt go so smoothly, but I made it through without vomiting. =) They then asked me to sing the Brahms piece I had prepared, and that went just fine. They asked if I had any questions and then sent me on my way. I walked out hugely relieved and also quite out of it.
Boston University:
Auditions part deux. I preface this audition with a quick story. The day of my last rehearsal before my Coro concert, I got an email from the director saying, "The alto soloist cannot be at rehearsal tonight. Would you mind stepping in and singing the Et incarnatus est for tonight? It would really help the bass." No pressure right? Stand up in front of all your peers, and an orchestra, with 3 professional soloists, and sing something you dont know! WHAT!? But... I did it. I was sweating my ass off and think that was scarier than any of my auditions, but I did it.
So... the next day was my BU audition. I took the day off from work so I would be as stress free as possible. The nice snow storm didnt help that so much, but... the show must go on, and so did auditions. It took me about an hour to make the trek into the city, but I got there just in time. I parked right in front of the building my audition was in, since EVERYONE ELSE was heading far away from the city... but that was good. I walked in and again did the filling out of the audition sheet, and headed into the creepy basement to warm up. I had about 25 minutes, which was perfect. When done, I headed upstairs and almost immediately went into the audition room, which was smaller than BoCo, but still decent sized so I didnt feel suffocated. I walked in to only 4 people sitting behind the table, but shockingly I saw a familiar face. Who did I see? THE BASS SOLOIST from Coro! I couldnt believe the irony. One day im standing in front of Coro singing with him... the next day im singing in front of him hoping he thinks im good enough to be accepted into the program. I thought he may have recognized me, but I didnt want to be unprofessional or make an ass of myself if he didnt, so I kept quiet and did my thing. Again, I got to choose the first piece, and again I chose the French aria. The cadenza went a bit better, but again, nerves prevented that high C from flying out the way it normally can. Ah well. They then asked me to sing the Britten, and that went pretty well. They then thanked me and sent me on my way.
The following night at the Coro concert, my thought that the bass recognized me was confirmed. He smiled at me and said "Nice to see you again." And I responded by saying the same and how surprising it was to see his face at my audition. Then he told me I had done a good job the day before... which I guess could be taken as a good sign? That or just politeness? I dont know.
Longy:
2 down, 1 to go.
I managed to stay healthy for my last audition! Success! I did get nervous because after my routine of prepping and getting myself into the city on time... arriving at the school, filling out the info sheet, and getting into a warm up room... I started to get really hot and to feel nauseous. I was worried I was going to throw up all over the room, but managed to calm myself down. Im not even sure why I got that way because I wasnt more nervous than before, but it happened. Luckily, I was ok.
Longy's audition was a little different. I had time in the room by myself to warm up and run through things. Then, the pianist came in and ran through my pieces with me, which I thought was really awesome. After just a quick tempo check on everything, we headed upstairs and into the hall. This audition room was like a mini auditorium (me standing on a stage and all), and was right by the entrance to the building, so everyone coming in and/or waiting could hear me. Luckily, that was an ok thing I think! There were just 4 people for this audition, as well. Per usual, I chose first and chose the French. The good thing this time was they stopped me about 3/4 of the way through so I didnt have to sing the cadenza at all! Yay! Then they asked me to sing the Brahms, and let me get all the way through. I felt really good about it, and one of the women said "Oh, lovely." The other thing that was different about Longy was after I sang, they had me sit down and talk to them. This was almost more intimidating than the singing because I had to just be myself. They seemed relaxed and casual, which helped a bit, and I did think it was pretty cool of them to actually take a minute to see some of each auditioners personality, rather than just judging you as merely a voice. They asked me about my time at Brandeis and how my vocal study had been going since graduation. Then they asked about something I think I still needed to work on. Then they asked me where I saw myself in ten years. I HATE those questions. So I told them the same thing I think I put in our high school year book... that id probably still be trying to figure out where id be in 10 years. They all laughed, so I did too, lol. Then I told them that I knew I wanted to keep performing, but that I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do so I could make sure id be financially safe. They told me id hear around the third week in March and sent me off. I changed out of my dress for the last time and heaved a HUGE sigh of relief because I had lived through grad school auditions.
While my sense of relief is now tainted with a small sense of panic and worry that I wont get in... at least its out of my hands. At least I didnt throw up. At least I made it through singing well... not everything was my very best, but im human... im not perfect, despite the desire for musical perfection. I lived, and im doing it. I put myself out there, and I feel great about that.
In a few short weeks I should know, and hopefully ill be struggling with a choice!