I spent a morning in the handsome Ganz Hall (right) at Roosevelt University with Dana Brown's class of mainly graduate singers - five minutes and one aria each. There were some twenty singers in two hours and each sang a single aria. They brought their resumés, their head shots, and a list of selected arias.
Normal practice is for the auditionee to choose the first piece - in this case the only piece. My task was to scrutinize the choices and imagine what I might have asked for had there been time for a second. Given that I hear 800 singers or more a year one way or another it is fun just to imagine the second piece rather than actually hear it. All very good for productivity!
And we then adjourned to a classroom for 50 minutes of discussion of the issues, and a question and answer session. It is clearly very tricky for young singers to grasp all the little details that go into a successful audition formula. Of course the singing is the thing, first and foremost. However there is a huge amount that can be done to ensure that the presentation maximises the perception of the strengths of the indivividual and minimises the weaknesses (if any). So start with something, no longer than four minutes in length, that you can really nail - and that demonstrates all the good things you have to offer.
A balanced choice of pieces, up to five and certainly not less than three, gives the opportunity to demonstrate pretty well anything a panel might need to see and hear. So three drooopy arias which are essentially the same is something of a waste. If you are a perky soubrette or light lyric soprano, the panel will be frustrated and irritated by the absence of a piece that demonstrates line and legato. If you are singing for COT and have nothing but Strauss and Wagner you may be missing a trick. And singing Monteverdi for the Met or Bayreuth might be less than helpful. All pretty obvious stuff but it really needs to be pointed out.
And no acting please. There is nothing worse than a terrible provincial version of the Catalogue Aria or Hoffmann's wretched doll. Just get on with it and sing it and connect with the character without the hindrance of "production". We had a good deal of fun with that discussion.
And Mozart - well he is the ultimate test. And there are those like me who pretty well always will wish to test a singer's mettle with a Mozart aria. So be sure to include him and be 150% on top of the piece you put on the list.
And there was a lot else. And Dana Brown includes some really helpful other items in the curriculum to prepare the young singer for a professional career. In particular he recommends an excellent book, Beyond Talent by Angela Myles Beeching who is director of the Career Services Center at the New England Conservatory in Boston. This is a mine of valuable information, tricks and tips. And you can buy it now from Amazon.
It was a good and enjoyable morning, followed by some real auditions and then lunch with a Board member. And so back to the office and eventually home for the weeksnd. It is going to be a wicked winter weekend.
Thank you for coming out to hear us Friday morning! I/we appreciate all of your input and help
Posted by: Joachim Luis | December 06, 2008 at 09:00 AM
It's good to know your stance on acting/blocking in an audition. Directors have differing opinions about this and if you don't have the inside scoop, it's impossible to know if the people hearing you want to see blocking, gesturing, or neither. I have been told before that I lost points in an audition for standing still. I wish you people would make up your collective mind!!! :)
Posted by: Amanda White | December 07, 2008 at 06:07 AM
Standing completely still, motionless, is the one extreme; elaborate production - whether nods and winks Wasilla style, or stabbing yourself and falling to the ground dead as a tenor once did to me when enacting the death of Otello, is too much. Standing reasonably still, but with some natural but not self conscious gesture in response to the music and thought behind it, is of course just fine. Leporello should leave his catalogue at home. But if you bring a list of ar1as including Oktavian, Cherubino and Siebel, wearing slacks might not be a bad idea. So make a sound and sensible judgment on a case by case basis and you will be just fine.
Posted by: BD | December 07, 2008 at 02:52 PM
OMG somebody stabbed himself?? Could you keep from laughing? Thanks for your advice. I usually compromise by using gestures but not blocking (unless I know what the auditors want), but even then I still get in trouble sometimes. I just hope if they like me enough to hire me they won't let that stop them!
Posted by: Amanda White | December 09, 2008 at 12:05 AM
OMG somebody stabbed himself?? Could you keep from laughing? Thanks for your advice. I usually compromise by using gestures but not blocking (unless I know what the auditors want), but even then I still get in trouble sometimes. I just hope if they like me enough to hire me they won't let that stop them!
Posted by: Amanda White | December 09, 2008 at 12:10 AM
Thank you very much for your advice. I always appreciate an opinion on the acting/no acting conundrum.
Posted by: Rachel | October 11, 2009 at 01:16 AM