Music for beauty pageant
I am preparing for my first beauty pageant in June. As you may know, the talent portion of the competition counts greatest to the final score(35%). We are given just 2 minutes to present a talent, and I am definitely going to use the violin. It can be accompanied by a piano or not at all. The key is present something that is a little familiar to the audience, can permit a visual connection to the audience(and judges) including eye-to-eye contact, is fun, showy and not to "serious."
My current violin skill level includes Vieuxtemps 5th violin concerto. I have solo'd Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto for Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, and have won a number of regional competitions, and was a national MTNA string finalist. I am a high school senior.
I am working on a shortened version of Vieuxtemps Souvenir D'Amerique for the pageant, and have also played William Kroll's Banjo and Fiddle in the past. Any better suggestions? It's tough to shorten a piece and preserve the pacing and climaxes.
Replies (5)
Paganini's 5th caprice. It's in your repertoire. It's about 2 minutes long. If you play it well, you will do very, very well on the talent portion.
Wonderful suggestions. But it seems to me that with that particular audience and judges, you want something that straddles the classical and popular worlds, and that is indeed immediately accessible (with a chance to demonstrate something technical and something that will show off your tone). And I agree - Banjo and Fiddle is a great choice.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Sandy
Wow! Talented, beautiful. If my son were a little older, I'd try to fix you two up :-) At any rate, whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll be a hit. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
You may consider the Heifetz arrangement of selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. "Summertime" is a popular vocal solo for pageant talent portions, so playing it would probably work well. I played a bit of Monti's Czardas for a talent portion once. I also played Brahms Hungarian Dance no. 5. Those are both very lively crowd pleasers. Good luck!
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March 2, 2011 at 11:09 AM ·
I personally love "Banjo and Fiddle" and it´s a very fun and energetic piece. I´d also suggest "Gavotte et Rondeaux" from Partita no. 3 by Bach. You could shorten it to fit the time slot. Any Bach piece would work well I think :)