A lunch hour post, for I’m feeling a bit guilty at my blogging track record this time around. Seems that I can either do things or write about them, but not both… We implemented a callback audition procedure a couple of years ago, and it has served us well. We only have one trip around
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Midwest Musings
This part of the tour is always too much of a whirlwind. Too many good singers, and too few hours in the day. It was a quick 8-hour turnaround from Wednesday night’s arrival in Cincinnati to our morning departure from the hotel. And Thursday was dense, with only a half-hour for lunch, and a dash
Read MoreChicago: The No Caffeine Zone
We’ve settled into a new audition space in Chicago for 2 days. The management at Classical Symphony Hall is taking very good care of us, and we appreciate being able to listen to voices in a space that doesn’t fight against us. The acoustic isn’t luxuriously live, but the ceilings are high, and the sound
Read MoreInterlude: MONC Auditions
I’m on a mid-audition-tour busman’s holiday this weekend, judging the Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Region auditions in Los Angeles on the beautiful campus of USC. A high level of singing, enjoyable colleagues, and marvelously friendly and efficient MONC staff and volunteers make it a pleasure. Today we were in the Newman Recital Hall of
Read MoreTechnology in the Audition Room
We kicked off the fall audition tour with a strong start in Los Angeles, and as I was emptying my portable office of its seemingly endless gear, I was reminded of this NY Times article from last summer. I bookmarked it with a reminder to revisit this topic during the audition tour, and this seems
Read MoreHappy Fifth Bloggiversary
Well, it was on Wednesday, but I missed it. Now We Are Five.
Read MoreSweating Small Stuff… Seeing Forests for Trees… Wholes Being Greater than Sums of Parts …
As we prepare for our California auditions, I thought this would be a great opportunity for a guest post. Joshua Winograde, Artistic Planning Manager for LA Opera, is a great friend and colleague of the WTOC, and he spent several chunks of his career so far with us – as a Filene Young Artist, as
Read MoreIAD-LAX-ORD-CVG-IAH-JFK/NYP-PHI-WAS
And we’re off. 7 cities, 6 airports, 3 train stations, dozens of cabs and one car rental later, we’ll end up back here at Thanksgiving – with any luck, ready to cast 3 operas for next summer. I’ll write as often as possible from the road – cities and dates below at right. Tonight I
Read MoreExpert Friday: Tips from Texas
On our final expert Friday, some combined advice from Kathleen Kelly and Laura Canning of the Houston Grand Opera Studio: Don’t Second-Guess! We like hearing you sing; we know auditioning is hard and we want you to do well. Don’t try to second guess what I want you to sing, or wear, or say. Just
Read MoreYour Audition Partner at the Piano
First, a list from a few seasons ago, when my colleague Thomas Lausmann sat on the audition panel with me: What Makes a Fabulous Audition Pianist? Listening. The ability to put the playing in subconscious mode and use most of the conscious mind to take in all of the details of the performance and become
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