89,425

We’ve spent the last month or so listening and writing, thinking and writing, analyzing and writing. So much writing. 89, 425 words, actually.* A novel-length output just north of Orwell’s 1984 (88,942) and south of Tolkien’s The Hobbit (95,022).

A lot of words for sure. But how else to keep track of 590 singers?

We don’t use a form or checklist or any other external organization tool. I learned long ago that if I’m trying to categorize my responses in real time, I do not listen well. Oddly enough, our stream-of-consciousness remarks provide an amazingly helpful and detailed picture of our 20 days in the audition room.

Now the real work begins, as we make sense of what we’ve heard and try to translate our 55 Filene Young Artist finalists into repertoire that showcases 15-20 of them. Wish us luck.

*Yes, I’m a data geek. The beauty of our database is that with one gesture, I can export all comments to a text file and do a word count. :) 

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to Blog