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Fellows and families are sometimes surprised by how minimalist live auditions actually are. After traveling all the way to the college, university, or conservatory, you may only play for ten to fifteen minutes before turning around and going home! Some schools offer additional activities such as tours, parent sessions, financial aid sessions, or theory/piano testing, but some are truly a ten-minute in-and-out visit to the school.

The hard part is actually the logistics of getting to the audition itself. This article will provide tips on making travel arrangements so fellows can be at their best during their auditions.

Setting Up Your Travel Arrangements

city headerTypically, you will be notified of your prescreen audition results anywhere from mid-December to mid-January. After a few brief moments of celebration, it is time to get back into the logistical busywork of obtaining an audition date and making your travel arrangements. Schools usually ask your preferred audition date or time shortly after you receive your prescreen results. Make sure you check your email regularly during this time and respond as soon as possible, as some audition dates may fill up. Auditions are typically scheduled between late January and mid-March, though some schools offer fall dates or rolling auditions.

Your audition date and time may not be confirmed until two or three weeks before the audition, making it difficult and expensive to arrange travel. CMPI seniors receive extra money to help offset some of these costs. Contact your student navigator for assistance when booking flights and hotels ahead of paying since reimbursement is not possible. Occasionally, some conservatories and universities provide stipends or travel assistance for auditions. This is rare, but if traveling to the audition is financially challenging for you, it is worthwhile to ask.

Generally, it is wise to arrive at your audition site the day before the audition. February is a winter month full of travel delays, regardless of method of transport. Arriving the day before gives you a bit of a cushion if your flight is delayed. It also allows you to get a good night’s sleep so you are well-rested for your audition.

In most cases, you can leave after your audition and do not need to stay overnight another night. However, some schools require you to reserve an entire day – often from 8am until 6pm or even later – for auditions, interviews, testing, and other events. CMPI alumni have stated that they rarely actually needed to stay that long, and were able to catch an earlier flight home by flying standby. Nonetheless, you need to be prepared to stay the full day.

In some cases, you may not be given your audition time until you arrive on campus. If this is the case, be prepared to be available from 8am to 8pm on audition day. If the program you are auditioning for has multiple live rounds of auditions, you may not even know what day you will be able to fly home. In this situation, try to find flexible and easily changeable flight and hotel options whenever possible so your flight can be changed if needed.

Most visits only require one night in a hotel, but in some cases when there are multiple rounds over several days, you may want to consider renting an AirBnB or equivalent to cut down on costs and give you space to practice.

Travel When Your Audition Has an Accompanist or Collaborative Pianist

In some cases, schools require or allow auditioning students to play with a collaborative pianist during the audition. This varies highly by school and instrument, with string players more often asked to play with accompaniment. Some schools may not allow accompaniment, others may leave it up to you, and still others will require it. At some schools, you will need to contact a pianist yourself from a provided list, while at other schools the pianist will be assigned. As soon as you receive this list or the name of the assigned pianist, schedule a rehearsal, as they tend to fill up quickly. Most schools require you to pay for rehearsal with the pianist, though a few schools do not allow rehearsal, and some include the cost within your application or audition fee.

Most schools that require accompaniment require you to arrive a day early to rehearse with collaborative pianists. Keep this in mind when booking flights or other travel methods, choosing an early morning flight the day before your audition.

Travel Tips from CMPI Alumni!

  • Take a morning flight or train to make sure you have options if there is problematic weather or other delays.
  • Always fly out the day before (or earlier).
  • Try to arrive with enough time to let your instrument acclimate to the new climate and audition building. This means arriving at least a day in advance, and entering the building two hours before your audition, if possible.
  • If traveling alone, make sure in advance the hotel will allow someone under the age of 18 or 21 to check in alone.
  • Determine how your airline or train will handle bringing your instrument with you. For example, cellists normally need to buy an extra seat for their instrument. 
  • Contact the school for names of hotels that provide a discount to auditioning students. 
  • Consider wearing a mask during travel and the week before to prevent illness.
  • Travel light, but don’t forget to pack your music, especially your piano parts if needed.

Scheduling Multiple Auditions

Sometimes school audition dates will overlap or be right in a row. If you have two auditions on the same day, schools may be able to reschedule you; however, in some cases you may need to choose between the two auditions, unfortunately.

Whenever possible, try to put at least four or five days between auditions to have time to rest and reset, especially if you are flying. It can also help to create a spreadsheet of audition dates in advance so you can plan the most optimal schedule. It may be possible to group several schools in the same part of the country together so you only need to travel to a city or region once. Schools may even coordinate their audition dates to make this possible.

Consider all forms of transportation – driving, flying, and even taking the train – when arranging your travel. For example, train service on the east coast is fast and reliable, and you may be able to fly to Boston and then take a train to additional auditions in nearby cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia, or Baltimore.

Reducing Travel

Often, students who are not entirely sure of their intentions apply to a large number of schools. If you end up passing more than 5-7 prescreen auditions, you may want to consider withdrawing some of your applications. Doing more than 5-7 live auditions is extremely logistically challenging and very costly.

It is also possible to switch some of your auditions to virtual auditions. Generally, live auditions, especially at your preferred schools, are going to show your abilities better, but you may want to consider auditioning virtually at some of your safety schools to cut down on costs, especially if you are less likely to attend a program. A handful of schools only offer virtual auditions.

Virtual auditions typically include a live audition streamed over a platform like Zoom. Make sure you have a reliable internet connection, a good USB microphone, and the optimal music settings turned on for your audition. The quality of your audition will depend dramatically on your set up, so practice ahead of time, verifying that your sound comes through clearly.

A few schools also allow videotaped final auditions. In this case, you are usually asked to record all your repertoire or a certain segment of your repertoire. Ironically, creating a taped final audition can sometimes be as expensive as traveling, especially if the recording needs to be in a hall with a collaborative pianist, so consider the time and costs before choosing this option.


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