I am here in Detroit for the Met auditions and just returned to my hotel after an entertaining dinner by the fantastically hospitable people who do all this noble work for the Met. Whenever I do these Met auditions (its normally three times each season) I am overwhelmed by the selfless commitment of these people. All is right with the world. (Especially since Tuesday)
There was a couple there from Grand Rapids and I asked them my Grand Rapids Quiz question about what of major operatic and musical significance had happened in Grand Rapids. They had no idea.....but were thrilled and amazed to discover the answer to this riddle.
My day started with an excellent two hours at Roosevelt with the second year masters candidates in voice doing "Mock auditions". I was really pleased to find that many of the bad things one sees in auditions were absent - I found that they had been really well tutored on such things as how to dress and not to bring tatty and illegible photocopies for the pianist. And much else of course, including singing really well. David Holloway and his colleagues are running a fine school here.
The only consistent weakness was the standard of "headshots" as photographic portraits are called now. Does it really matter? Well only to the extent that it is some evidence of attention to detail. There is a business opportunity here for someone who can figure out how to do it well.
It is late. We start out on a long day just 12 hours from now. It is time to do my email and have a good sleep in this Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Detroit - this I will examine by daylight tomorrow!
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