Music school/conservatory audition question

Bubastes · Jul 2, 2007

Is it possible for a high school student to apply for and audition at music schools without his parents' knowledge, but with his music teacher's help (e.g., with the teacher acting as a surrogate parent)? The sheer amount of time required to apply to conservatories is making it difficult for me to write a plausible sneaking-around situation, but maybe if the parents are workaholics, it would be easier to envision?

Thanks for any help you could provide?

Soccer Mom · Jul 2, 2007

Perhaps if the workaholic parents sent the student away to a boarding school? Otherwise, they would have to be used to the student being gone for extended periods of time. Perhaps if the parents are divorced and regularly ship the kid back and forth, he could convince both parents that he's with the other one.

Just a thought.

Bubastes · Jul 2, 2007

Thanks for the suggestion! I did a little research (gotta love Google) and learned that some schools accept audition tapes. That may give me a possible solution.

The Grift · Jul 2, 2007

If the music teacher is helping, why not arrange a fake concert in another city? All of those music kids are always going on trips everywhere from regional competitions to performances at Disneyland! The teacher could make some fake permission slips, and off they go.

Or is the whole idea that they have no idea he is involved in music at all?

Bubastes · Jul 2, 2007

The Grift said:
If the music teacher is helping, why not arrange a fake concert in another city? All of those music kids are always going on trips everywhere from regional competitions to performances at Disneyland! The teacher could make some fake permission slips, and off they go.

Or is the whole idea that they have no idea he is involved in music at all?

*hits self on head*

Doh! How quickly I forget from my high school years. Of course, the travel to concerts and competitions! And county honors band (usually an overnight event), etc. etc. THANK YOU!

Soccer Mom · Jul 2, 2007

What an obvious solution. A fake concert or competition. Good one!

The Grift · Jul 2, 2007

And of course it opens up to doors to minor conflicts. For instance, it's not fake, but rather an actual concert that his band/choir is attending in Boston or wherever the conservatory is... and he and his teacher managed to set up an audition the same day.

When the professors are running late for the audition but the high school jazz competition on Boston Commons is about to start, Does Protagonist let down his friends by not showing up for his big solo, or does he sacrafice his dreams by walking out on the audition of a lifetime!

Hmmm... too kitshcy? Sorry...

So okay, it is actually a competition, which is why he can't let his friends down. So he leaves the conservatory before the dean shows up and goes to the competition. They win. But the character is depressed. Let's say that the character is named Jake and he's a jazz guitar prodigy... we see him later at school.

Jake sat with his back against the rough brick wall, the hollow-body Epiphone in his arms. He uncounsciously ran his fingers up and down the neck, fingering out scales that he had played thousands of times before. It was funny how the notes that made up the bright and happy Lydian modes were the same notes of the sad and forlorn Hypodorian. It all depended on what chords were playing underneath.

"Hey."

Jake looked up and saw Miss Meow looking down at him. He hadn't spoken to her since their victory at the contest. Traveling back on a bus full of his friends riding high on their victory had been bittersweet for Jake. He sat silent and alone amid the cacophony of celebration, his sacrafice a secret to everyone but himself. Miss Meow had known better than to approach him. Until now.

"You made the right choice, Jake. Your solo blew the judges away. We wouldn't have won without you."

"Well, I guess that's what I'll always be, then. The best jazz guitarist in high school." The Epiphone on his lap seemed sadly appropriate; a knock-off of the Gibson guitar professionals used. Why would he need a better guitar if he would never be playing better music?

"Except here's the thing; The Dean's secretary told the Dean that we left to go to the concert. He showed up in just in time to see you play. He just called me up. You're in, Jake. Full scholarship."

Jake suddenly wanted to shout and laugh. The notes in his head were Hypomixolydian, triumphant and alive. He wanted to crow.

The only thing that stopped him was the thought of his parents. He had won the competition for his jazz band. He had just won a full scholarship to the most exclusive music conservatory in the country. But that had been the easy part. His real battle was just beginning. And he couldn't win this one with some fancy fretwork. He had always been able to play. He had always understood music. But he had no idea how he would get through a conversation at the dinner table, trying to tell his parents that he had to shatter their dreams to chase his own.

Okay, that was a little presumptuous of me. But it might make a good subplot/early-conflict and resolution for the story. And, all I know is that this one time, at band camp...

Soccer Mom · Jul 3, 2007

Don't you mean banned camp?

FloVoyager · Jul 3, 2007

The Grift said:
If the music teacher is helping, why not arrange a fake concert in another city? All of those music kids are always going on trips everywhere from regional competitions to performances at Disneyland! The teacher could make some fake permission slips, and off they go.

Well, okay, but if either parent objects upon the kid's return, the teacher could go to jail, lose his/her career, reputation, the whole nine yards. I can't imagine any teacher doing this that you'd want your kid to go somewhere alone with.

Bubastes · Jul 3, 2007

FloVoyager said:
Well, okay, but if either parent objects upon the kid's return, the teacher could go to jail, lose his/her career, reputation, the whole nine yards. I can't imagine any teacher doing this that you'd want your kid to go somewhere alone with.

Good point. On the flip side, if a child's school band is already going to be playing in, say, Philadelphia, what's to stop the child from scheduling a detour to audition at Curtis (with the teacher's encouragement, maybe the teacher even called in a favor to get an audition scheduled outside the normal window)? The teacher is the child's private music teacher, not the band director, so it's a different kind of relationship.

Boy, I have a lot of logistics to work through....

brianm · Jul 4, 2007

This type of audition happens quite often. Someone who knows someone arranges a private audition.

It happened in my case when I first came to America, and one of those private auditions was at Curtis.

A tape had been forwarded to my godmother in America. She took the tape to a friend at Curtis who then set up a private audition based on what she had heard on the tape. I was told the date, time, and where the audition would be held.

I went to my audition, application in hand. The three faculty members who heard my audition reviewed my application, asked a few questions, and then they asked me to sing.

I don't remember the application. I was over the age of eighteen, so I doubt a parent's signature would have been required. However, many a parent's signature has appeared on a signature line without the parent having seen the document in question, no?

To answer your question, yes, what you state above is a very plausible scenario.

Music school/conservatory audition question

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