HOLLY BURDICK
Special to The Leader
“Auditions today were actually especially strong,” junior music education major Michael J. Maroney said. “The students coming in all seemed pretty attracted to what Fredonia had to offer, specifically the school of music.”
Audition days are the days when young music students audition for a spot in Fredonia’s music program. The audition itself was their first obstacle, second was the waiting game. Whether the hopefuls get accepted or not will be unknown until the end of next month or so. There were all different types of auditions, with many different tasks in each audition. In addition to both instrumental and vocal auditions for the School of Music, there are also auditions for the Department of Theatre and Dance.
There are many different requirements for each type of audition search to find well-rounded students. For each audition, there are scales and sight singing that need to be performed, regardless of the instrument being auditioned on.
“[The university tries] to look at the overall musician, as opposed to the select style,” Maroney said.
One auditioning student, Greg Walerski, had to pull double duty on audition day. He auditioned on his saxophone, but also had sit down and discuss three of his own compositions. Even though this second audition doesn’t require an instrument, it’s a crucial in getting accepted into the composition department.
Tours were being held, allowing current students the chance to talk to the upcoming students.
“One guy said he wasn’t really nervous,” junior music education major Frank Valente said, though a lot of students were. Some could be described as “shaky.” After each individual’s audition, he or she stayed very quiet and it was mainly only the parents who spoke.
But Walerski felt very ready. He noted that he was “nervous, but excited.” He prepared all he could through practice, and running through everything built up the confidence he needed.
Being there to accompany students, tour guides knew the typical responses.
“I went in and played and I left,” Valente joked about his initial percussion audition, imitating the idea of short responses given. “I played snare drum, marimba and timpani.”
Valente said he wasn’t as nervous because he had a slight advantage. He’d had a lesson and the tour already. He had a basic layout already, so he felt more comfortable.
“There’s nothing worse than going in and being like, ‘Did I eat today?’” Valente said. He also gave his advice on what to eat before hand. From experience, he said that carrot sticks or an apple could be a good idea.
“Don’t focus on the little things, focus on the big picture,” said Mitch Marg, a junior music education major, adding a piece of advice that can be taken for many different situations. “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Even considering mistakes, it’s important to realize that the audition is not all about musical technique. The program is looking for great students.
“I just threw my hands down for like half a minute,” junior music performance major Tyler Marvin said, describing an experience of his own.
Even with mistakes like this, he is still in the program. This goes back to Marg’s advice about sweating the small stuff; it’s not worth it.
While debating how early to be for this big day, it was agreed that early enough to have time to practice is a good measurement. Marg put a number of 30 minutes on the table. Maroney chuckled and admitted he was ready to go five hours before his audition time, saying, “I married myself to a practice room before I got into the audition.”
Fredonia has a wide range of students that attend the School of Music. People come from near and far to attend. One hopeful traveled five hours. She plays the flute and would like to be a music therapy major. Martins felt very confident before her audition. She had plenty of practice, and she had plenty of time before hand.
‘Tis the season for the next generation of students to share their talent. New faces at Fredonia will be seen over the next few months.