Good Afternoon!
Well, that was painless. Relatively.
We had 45 people auditioning for grad school programs this morning. There were about 15 colleges and universities in a attendance. Sadly, I believe there were a few people this morning who may have ended up not getting a "callback' or interview this afternoon.
-I mean... You're auditioning for graduate school. You're auditioning for possible scholarship money... So.... Why they hell would you come into this morning's audition so amazingly and appallingly unprepared?!?!?!?
After my initial briefing, I ran a group warm-up, and then went ahead and took a sneak-peak at the music they were singing for their auditions. I was able to check tempos ahead of time, and we ran the first couple of measures of each song. Well, more than one person came up to the piano, asked me to play their intro, then commented, "Could you play that again? That's the first time I've heard that."
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? And, of course, it sounded like it was the first time they had even practiced with an accompanist. Some people didn't realize their cuts were wrong, bad or awkward. Others did not realize that their music was in the wrong key - that it was not in the same key as the cast recording. And others were obviously to emulate a certain rendition of the song that had no relation to the music they put in front of me. -Or all of the above.
Not only do I question the students who came in unprepared, but I also have to question the faculty member(s) who advised and coached them. And signed their forms! It's something that always makes me mad - STOP wasting your student's money! Don't "make" them pay registration fees, buy plane tickets and pay for hotel rooms unless they're going to have a positive experience. Not only are
you doing a disservice to your students, but you're also doing a disservice to your school and your program.
