Your Traveling Experience in Conservatory Auditions

November 17, 2005 at 11:31 PM · An audition tour would be brilliant if you could schedule that way. I have a friend who did three auditions in three states in three days, though he was so exhausted by the process that it seemed no coincidence that he was only accepted by the first school he played at. An alternate strategy is to cluster in geographic groups, and let that help determine where you audition, i.e. a midwest trip, a Boston-area trip, an NYC-area trip. It depends on the time and money you can allocate to travel, the number of schools you're auditioning at, and whether you'd prefer to spread the auditions out over a long period, or do them all in a short spurt. One thing I can definitely say is that if you're applying to a lot of schools, you will either have to make more than one trip or play regional/recorded auditions. Recorded auditions are a near-guarantee of getting minimal financial aid, though.

Anyway, the point is, there's no standard approach as such. You'll have to make an itinerary that works for you.

November 18, 2005 at 04:45 AM · I did it... it can be really annoying and very taxing. Always try to get something in the afternoon.

November 18, 2005 at 05:32 PM · Hi,

In my days as a student, I did it. It's the only way if you are not somehow on the exceptions list of a famous teacher. Plus, it's good to know the school and the city when you audition since you will be there for a while should you choose to go there.

Cheers!

November 19, 2005 at 04:51 AM · No one else has really answered Nick's question about how travel itineraries work. I'm curious to hear other people's approaches.

November 19, 2005 at 04:32 PM · My daughter's auds were not all at the same time (--scheduling depends a lot on whether the school has a quarter or semester schedule). She flew to Colburn early (fall) for a lesson with Lipsett. Then in Feb. she flew to Cleveland for CIM (with Dad)for aud & lesson--Then rented a car and drove to Cinci (stayed with family) and drove from there to her Indiana aud. Then back to Cinci for a flight home....Later, in March, she & I flew out to Austin for an audition for Brian Lewis at UT.

Fortunately air fares were relatively cheap that year.

Many of the schools have several audition dates. One thing to investigate ahead of time is whether or not the teacher of your choice will be there when you audition, and whether you can schedule a lesson with him/her. For instance, Miriam Fried was not present for the Indiana audition, and that was probably part of the reason why my daughter chose not to go there--she wanted a known quantity.